THC seltzer and all Delta-8 products could be banned in NJ

🍸 THC infused seltzers are among the fastest selling beverages in NJ

🍸 NJ is seeking to regulate the cannabis beverage market

🍸 All THC beverages would be banned until rules are worked out

While the state has legalized the sale of marijuana for recreational use, many New Jersey residents prefer to get their buzz from a can.

Cannabis infused beverages, mostly seltzer, now account for nearly 15% of all sales in liquor stores in New Jersey. That amounts to more than $25 million in sales this year alone.

Up until now, they have been legal to stock and sell in New Jersey. However, that could be about to change in a big way.

These are not the same as 'legal weed' products

The vast majority of beverages being produced and sold in New Jersey and nationwide are made with some form of THC infusion and take advantage of a federal loophole in anti-cannabis laws.

Technically, they are derived from hemp, which due to a quirky provision in the 2018 Farm Bill make the products both legal and largely unregulated.

These include Delta-8 products and many of the THC-infused beverages that are sold not only in liquor stores, but at virtually every retailer from gas stations to convenience stores.

Under current federal law, it is permissible to sell an intoxicating cannabis product with less than 0.3% THC. Products that fall under this loophole are governed by none of the stringent regulations New Jersey has imposed on recreational cannabis.

Most alarmingly, some say, is the lack of penalties for selling these products to children.

What is happening now?

New Jersey legislators have sent a bill to Gov. Phil Murphy that would impose strict regulations on intoxicating hemp products, including Delta-8 and THC infused beverages.

If this bill becomes law, it will become immediately illegal to stock and sell these products until the state can figure out how to regulate (and tax) them.

The regulations would likely closely follow the regulations in place for legal marijuana, including a strict ban on the sale to anyone under 21-years-old.

In municipalities where the products are sold, towns could levy an additional 2% sales tax.

Once the regulations are in place, sales could resume.

How long would that take?

It will not be a quick process.

If Gov. Murphy goes along with the legislation, cannabis regulators would be granted six months to draft general rules and vote on them. Then the Division of Alcohol Beverage Control would get another six months to work with the CRC to come up with rules specifically geared toward cannabis and hemp derived beverages.

Among the regulations that have to be approved are testing and safety standards as well as labeling and sales restrictions.

What happens during that process?

All Delta-8 and THC infused products would be declared illegal to sell and will have to be pulled off the shelf.

That includes THC-infused seltzer.

It is also not clear if the new regulations will allow the sales of such products again in places like convenience stores and gas stations.

THC-infused seltzer and other beverages might only be authorized for sale in liquor stores.

There is also question about whether these products could be sold in towns that have not expressly authorized the sale of cannabis products. Less than a third of all municipalities in New Jersey have opted in to permit legal cannabis sales.

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