CBD-based products should only be purchased from licensed CBD retailers if they do not meet the intoxication threshold.
Lovewell Farms, by Mike Simpson via Rhode Island Current
Since 2008, as co-founder of Rhode Island’s USDA organic hemp farm and largest cannabis outdoor farm in the State, I have been helping to build the hemp sector from the ground.
Lovewell Farms operates under one the strictest regulatory systems in the United States. We are subject to batch testing and tetrahydrocannabinol limits. Our packaging is secure, our products can be traced, etc. But two bills recently introduced, H6056 & H6270 would keep licensed hemp farm operators like Lovewell Farms from the very market they helped create.
This bill, which was introduced by Democratic Reps. Jacquen baginski and Scott Slater, both of Providence, aims to regulate the sale hemp-derived drinks containing Delta-9 THC.
Slater’s legislation would prohibit the sale in Rhode Island of drink mix powders and beverages unless the products were specifically covered by the cannabis laws in that state. Both the bills and existing legal infrastructure misrepresent the science of these products.
During a recent House hearing, Rep. Baginski stated, “I was surprised to learn that hemp-based THC products are also available in the marketplace and largely sold unregulated…at any establishment with a retail sales permit. It could be in a grocery store, gas station or hair salon.
It is incorrect. Consumable hemp products in Rhode Island must be tested and produced by labs that are certified. The products are subjected to age and THC restrictions, as well as comprehensive labeling guidelines. The failure to enforce these regulations is not indicative of a system that has no rules.
Rep. Slater also made false claims in the testimony he gave to support his bill. This would ban hemp-derived THC products unless purchased through dispensaries. He stated that the hemp-derived THC drinks are sold with little oversight and minimal testing. There is also no seed-to sale tracking, inadequate labeling or lack of supervision.
The work of hemp farmers who are licensed and follow all the requirements of the state is wiped out by this characterization. Many of them, including us, distribute certain products via dispensaries, in full compliance with existing cannabis laws.
Slater continued to claim that hemp drinks undermine Rhode Island’s marijuana cultivators. He described them as constituents. “I really find it unfair that as soon as this market has started that we’re trying to undermine them…and allowing folks that found kind of a loophole with this synthetically altered hemp in drinks…without going through the same framework that everyone else has.”
Our farm, however, has always adhered to the rules. We have no loophole, only increasing restrictions for products that we’ve been making legally, safely, and transparently over the years.
The bills both ignore an important scientific fact. Not all hemp-based products are intoxicating.
For example, our full spectrum gummies or vape cartridges often have a ratio of CBD to THC that is 25:1 and higher. According to peer-reviewed studies, products that have a ratio of at least 15:1 are not intoxicating as CBD is counteracting the THC effects. The products in question are not intended to induce intoxication, but rather support stress relief, inflammation, and sleep. It is not scientifically accurate and harmful to lump them with THC-rich beverages imported from other states.
It’s troubling that the bills propose to give control over hemp beverages sales either to cannabis dispensaries or liquor stores, but exclude the farms who have been driving the market for hemp in the state since 2018.
Rep. Baginski wants to create a “new safe marketplace” for hemp THC drinks, but we are already on the best and safest path: Dispensaries should sell products which meet the thresholds of intoxication. Products below that level should only be available from licensed CBD retailers. This distinction is already made under state law.
Rhode Island has the ability and responsibility to regulate cannabinoids in accordance with potency ratios and risk for public health. It must be done with fairness and accuracy. Many hemp farmers have spent many years, and thousands of dollars in building small businesses rooted on sustainable agriculture and the health of communities. We are not a problem.
It is my hope that the lawmakers revisit these proposals, and will work with people rather than around those who spent many years trying to make it right. Hemp regulations should be based not on stigma but rather science and fairness.
Mike Simpson, co-founder of Lovewell Farms in Rhode Island and the only organic hemp farm certified by USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture), is a historian. A historian, an educator and a lifelong advocate of policy reform, he is also known as a passionate activist for the cause. He previously served as deputy director of Regulate Rhode Island, and initiative coordinator for Marijuana Policy Project Maine. Now he lives and farms near Hopkinton in Hope Valley, a village in Providence.
This article was originally published in Rhode Island Current.
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Brendan Cleak provided the photo.