Unlicensed cannabis-derived products could see a crackdown under bills heading for the Michigan House of Representatives.
The package would target delta-8 and other cannabinoids that use loopholes in federal laws to be sold at gas stations, smoke shops, and other stores.
The bills would restrict products based on their content of THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
Products with more than 1.75 milligrams of THC, or a cannabinoid equivalent, per container would be treated the same as more traditional marijuana regulated under the state’s recreational and medicinal marijuana laws. That could largely ban those products outside of cannabis dispensaries.
State Senator Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia) is a package sponsor. She said it’s about keeping kids safe.
“I want to keep these intoxicating products, sometimes packaged to be attractive to kids, out of gas stations and convenience stores and other places where kids can get their hands on them and become intoxicated by them,” Polehanki said.
Low dosage THC products would be overseen by the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency. They could appear in stores as hemp.
The hemp industry says the bills would set the THC limit too low.
Blain Becktold is president of the industrial hemp trade group, iHemp Michigan. He said the Senate-approved limit could hurt access to CBD, often used for pain or stress.
“We really need it to be 5 (mg) in order for people to be able to receive the benefit from the products that they're using for pain relief for depression or whatever might be they're using it for,” Becktold said.
The bills passed the Senate on Thursday after seeing changes made before the vote.
When the package was voted out of committee, the legislation then limited THC content to 1.75 mg per serving instead of per container. That meant a package sold in stores could potentially contain more total amounts of THC, depending on how many servings it had.
Polehanki said the switch to “per container” came as a compromise made with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who were concerned about safety.
“That's really the dividing line. Does it get you high? Does it not get you high? If it gets you high, it’s going to be regulated under marijuana. If it doesn’t, it will be regulated under hemp,” she said.
Becktold, however, said he was disappointed with the decision. He said he believed lawmakers and his group had an agreement that he now feels package supporters went back on.
Regardless of the final amount allowed, the policy will have to contend with changes in federal regulation as well.
The agreement to end the federal government shutdown earlier this year also reclassified what counts as legal hemp from a by-weight standard to a set amount. The new 0.4 mg THC per container federal standard would still be below what either version of the bills would allow.
Meanwhile, Becktold said President Donald Trump’s decision to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug opens up more possibilities for hemp.
“So now we have kind of conflicting things, right? We've got the Legislature saying one thing. And then we've got the administration saying something else with this. So, it's going to be very confusing as we move forward,” Becktold said.
It could be the Michigan House of Representatives’ job to help figure out how to respond. The Senate bills join House legislation still in committee to support a hemp-derived beverage industry and the House’s own bills to address marijuana alternatives found on shelves.
State Rep. Joseph Aragona (R-Clinton Twp) chairs the House Regulatory Reform Committee. He said the rescheduling of marijuana puts more energy behind the efforts, with committee votes coming possibly this spring or summer.
“Now it’s even more incumbent on us to properly regulate the industry across the board,” he said.
But Aragona said lawmakers would need to talk more before agreeing to a 1.75 mg per container amount.
Talks around hemp beverages being potentially sold in liquor stores or bars centered around higher amounts of THC. He said he hasn’t been seeing a high enough demand for other low-dosage products outside of the dispensary system to make that a priority at the moment.
