Will you still be able to buy THC seltzer in New Jersey?

🍸 THC beverages are among the fastest selling adult libations in NJ
🍸 A new law bans their sale until they can be regulated and taxed
🍸 Federal lawsuit seeks to overturn the ban

New Jersey legalized recreational marijuana sales in 2021. While cannabis products sold at a dispensary have become enormously popular, many prefer to get their buzz from a can.

THC infused seltzers and other beverages are one of the fastest growing segments of the liquor business. Some estimates put potential sales at over $1 billion per year. That could be more than the combined sales of products available at licensed dispensaries in New Jersey.

The beverages are sold in liquor stores, but also at convenience stores and gas stations along with other Delta-8 or Delta-9 products.

New Jersey lawmakers branded them unregulated and dangerous. Gov. Murphy signed legislation on Sept. 12 that banned their sale until the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission can establish rules for sale and taxation.

That ban is now being challenged in federal court by THC beverage makers saying language in the law signed by Murphy creates "a dizzying maze of rules that are far too complicated for ordinary citizens to navigate."

What happened?

In a federal law that legalized hemp in 2018 contained a weird loophole that exempted certain hemp products. THC beverages are technically derived from hemp which make them legal on the federal level, but also largely unregulated. They are also not taxed at the same rate as legal weed products in New Jersey.

The exemption also includes Delta-8 and Delta-9 products.

Under current federal law, it is permissible to sell an intoxicating cannabis product with less than 0.3% THC.

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

That is why the legislature sought to ban them.

The law gives retailers until Oct. 12 to pull all THC products off their shelves and then gives the NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission six months to come up with a new set of regulations and taxes before the products can be sold again.

By then, manufacturers argue, it could be too late.

What happens now?

A group of the largest hemp manufacturers and makers of THC beverages is asking a federal judge to strike down the New Jersey ban.

Their lawsuit also asks the court for a preliminary injunction while the suit is argued, which would keep the products on NJ store shelves, but with a strong age verification process for sales.

Even though Gov. Murphy went along with the ban, he has cautioned the wording of the law may cause even more confusion. It has.

Lawmakers came up with a horribly worded bill that includes an "in this state" clause. The lawsuit targets that clause directly as illegally placing restrictions on interstate commerce.

Unless the judge acts quickly, retailers will be forced to keep removing THC beverages and seltzers from their shelves.

Some manufacturers are already trying to create alternatives that get around the complicated language in the new law to allow some sales can continue.

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