Hemp beverage regulation bill passes Kentucky Senate without full ban on sales

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The Kentucky Senate passed a bill Friday to increase regulations on the sale of hemp-derived beverages, after dropping language that would have banned these products until next summer.

Also known as THC seltzers, the beverages have been in Kentucky stores since 2023, when the General Assembly unanimously passed a bill allowing low-THC products to be tested and regulated by the state, and purchased by those aged 21 and up.

On Wednesday, Senate Bill 202 had its language on an unrelated matter entirely replaced with a provision to ban the sale of all cannabinoid-derived beverages until July of 2026. It then quickly passed through a Senate committee in a specially-called meeting, to the dismay of business owners in the hemp industry.

Republican Sen. Julie Raque Adams of Louisville, the sponsor of SB 202 and chair of the committee, said the newly amended bill was a moratorium instead of a ban, suggesting the amendment was needed in order to force stakeholders in the industry to agree to more stringent regulations.

Jim Higdon, an owner of Kentucky-based Cornbread Hemp, told lawmakers his businesses had invested more than $1 million in a new hemp beverage product that was set to launch in April, which would be wiped out with little notice under the bill.

“I don’t understand how a moratorium is different from a ban,” Higdon said. “The Latin root word for moratorium is death, and if, as a small business, we are forced into a moratorium, it will kill our growth.”

The bill cleared the committee, despite several Republican members saying they would not vote for it on the chamber floor unless the provision to ban the products was dropped — which is exactly what happened Friday.

Adams filed a detailed floor amendment to her bill Thursday evening, which was then attached to SB 202 Friday morning as it was called for a vote in the Senate.

The amended bill dropped the outright ban on all hemp-derived beverages, instead only banning the sale of beverages with more than five milligrams of intoxicating cannabinoids. Businesses with inventory in those products would be allowed to sell them until May.

The newly-amended SB 202 also moved to regulate hemp beverages more like alcohol, moving oversight of its distribution to Alcoholic Beverage Control agencies. It also requires the University of Kentucky Cannabis Center to test such beverages and report their findings to the legislature in November.

Adams said the bill is “a really solid starting point to put guardrails around this product” to protect consumers and children from bad actors, while also not hurting small business interests.

“Right down the street from the Capitol, you can purchase cans of cannabis-infused beverages that are 60 milligrams and even 100 milligrams,” Adams said. “That’s the potency equivalency of drinking an entire bottle of bourbon or an entire bottle of vodka packed into a 12 ounce can.”

The bill cleared the Senate by a 29-6 vote, with all Republicans voting in favor of the bill.

GOP Sen. Jimmy Higdon of Lebanon — the father of the Cornbread Hemp owner — said the amended bill was an improvement, but hoped the House would make several changes.

Republican Sen. Gary Boswell of Owensboro wished it went further, saying “I believe that all these illegal products should be confiscated.”

Most Democrats voted against the bill, saying they were not given time to go over the detailed regulations of the late amendment.

“I think when we’re dealing with something that is regulating an industry that is currently legal, we have to be able to hear from that industry to make sure that we’re getting these regulations correct and that there aren’t any unintended consequences,” said Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, a Louisville Democrat.

Sen. David Yates, another Louisville Democrat, said the choice of five milligrams as the cut off for legal beverages seemed “off the cuff.”

“We’re dealing with something very, very complicated, and I look forward to making sure that we have the experts that are telling us what we need to do, so it’s not arbitrary numbers,” Yates said.

Higdon of Cornbread Hemp said the version of SB 202 that passed Friday was very similar to a bill that has been filed in the House for weeks and they had expected to be called, before the surprise of the Senate substitute bill to ban his products earlier this week.

“This is either chaotic leadership or an instructive moment meant to jerk us around to let us know that we’re playing with the big boys,” Higdon said. “Because there’s no other reasonable explanation as to why this bill was managed in this way.”

Higdon referenced a comment made by GOP Rep. Matthew Koch of Paris in the Senate committee Wednesday, in which he also suggested the language to entirely ban the product was a way to force the industry into making concessions on regulations.

“We have many tools in our toolbox when we go to work, and sometimes you have to get out the big hammer and bring everybody to the table,” Koch said. “And that’s where we are.”

Kentucky is one of many states where the alcoholic beverage industry has lobbied the legislature to increase regulations against their new competitors in the hemp beverage and products industry.

Charles George — the executive director of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Kentucky that has lobbied on SB 202 — said they “simply want intoxicating hemp beverages regulated in the same manner as alcoholic beverages.”

The bill now heads to the House, where Higdon hopes they either amend it to increase the cap to 10 milligrams, or vote it down. The new Cornbread Hemp beverage is five milligrams, so its sale would remain legal.

State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

“}]] The bill passed earlier in the week with a late amendment to ban the sale of all hemp-derived beverages in Kentucky, but lawmakers dropped that provision on the Senate floor.  Read More  

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