[[{“value”:”
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes this week sent letters to retailers and law enforcement officials, saying it is illegal for non-dispensaries to sell products infused with THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis.
Mayes is giving businesses 30 days to take these products off their shelves. If they don’t, they could face civil and/or criminal penalties.
Sully Sullivan, executive director of the Hemp Industry Trade Association, joined The Show to discuss.
Full conversation
MARK BRODIE: So what do you make of Attorney General Mayes’ directive here, basically saying if you are not a dispensary, you should not be selling these products?
SULLY SULLIVAN: Yes, the attorney general’s letter highlights the urgent need for hemp regulation. Hemp prohibition or prohibition of any sort, bans of any sort, traditionally have not worked. Regulation is the answer.
BRODIE: So do you, what kind of regulation, I guess, do you think there should be? I mean, do you think that, that regular retail stores that are not dispensaries should be able to sell these products?
SULLIVAN: Yes, Sen. Gowan and Sen. Ortiz introduced a bipartisan bill this year that sought to regulate hemp products within a regulatory framework that would create a $1 billion hemp market, create just over 10,000 jobs, over $500 million of taxable payroll, and over $100 million for the state through a flat hemp excise tax. So we’re missing out on that economic help in Arizona by implementing some sort of a ban versus a regulation model.
BRODIE: What kind of products are we talking about here?
SULLIVAN: So anything, there’s edible products and inhalable products, so, gummies, you know, vapes, flour, drinks, for example.
BRODIE: And are you finding these at like specialty shops, like can you go to like Target or Walmart and buy these things?
SULLIVAN: You can’t find them at Target or Walmart, but you can find them at big box retailers like Total Wine and More.
Amber Victoria Singer/KJZZ
Sully Sullivan in KJZZ’s studios.
BRODIE: So ideally, like what would you like to see happen in terms of making sure that people who should not be buying these and using them don’t do that.
SULLIVAN: Sure, so through a regulatory model that would include age gating, so you must be carded for 21, 21 and over. It would require protections for children, labeling regulations, marketing regulations and the sort.
BRODIE: And in terms of like the ability to do any of that, are, are businesses precluded from doing that? I know it’s not in state law that they have to, but you know, if you are at, you know, a Total Wine-type place, like I assume they can still they would card you anyway for buying any product that has alcohol in it there. I assume they’re not, they’re also carding people who, who try to buy things with THC in them, right?
SULLIVAN: That’s right. If you go into a total wine and you buy a hemp THC drink, you are carted. So the hemp industry has been self-regulating, so Total Wine and other retailers have been, you know, requiring IDs for 21 and over, selling safe products that are tested, that are properly labeled for consumer protections and protections of children. And that’s why regulation is so important, so that the bad actors that exist within a non-regulatory framework can be weeded out so that the, the good actors can stay.
BRODIE: Are you finding that there are bad actors here? Like, is the attorney general right that there’s stuff out there that that not just kids but like anybody shouldn’t be, shouldn’t be putting in their bodies?
SULLIVAN: Absolutely, she’s right. Again, in a non-regulatory model, there’s no protection of anything involving consumers or children. That’s why, you know, we, we advocate for not hemp prohibition, which creates a black market. The consumer demand for these products are high. They are there. And so we need to implement a regulatory model as opposed to a prohibition model to remove those bad actors.
BRODIE: Are you finding that, that there are cases where, like, have you heard of people getting into health issues because they’ve they’ve taken these?
SULLIVAN: Sure, you know, Arizona Poison Control has reported cases of children going to the hospital for accidental ingestion. So 97% of accidental ingestions happen at the home. Marijuana products have a similar situation reported by poison control, where there’s accidental ingestion at home. That’s why regulation is important. That’s why education is important.
BRODIE: Are there restrictions? Like, do you think there should be restrictions on the types of places at all that, that can sell these? I know you don’t want just dispensaries, but should anybody be allowed to sell these products?
SULLIVAN: So within a regulatory model, it would require licensing, so retailers would have to get a license. Regulations that are proposed at the Legislature for hemp include a 500 foot setback from schools.
Only certain types of products can be used. You cannot market to children, must have again testing and things like this, so. There are, there are limitations to who can retail and sell these products. They have to follow very specific and strict regulation through a regulatory model.
BRODIE: So given, as you say, that over the past few years, there have been efforts to create this sort of regulatory licensing structure in the state, and those bills have gotten to various stages but have not yet become law. Given that you’re sort of in this wild west kind of environment, is the attorney general’s action the right approach, even if it’s just temporary until the, the Legislature takes action?
SULLIVAN: So we don’t think prohibition or bans are the answer. Again, it drives the black market. Regulation again, would be the answer to that. So she’s right, you know, she has a good point. These, there’s products out there that do appeal to children that are not tested, and again, prohibition and bans, you know, don’t seem to work traditionally in our history.
And so that’s why we have been urging the legislators to pass these regulatory models so that the attorney general doesn’t have to go over, go at these retailers who are, who are good people, people who have families, people that want to do the right thing.
BRODIE: Have you heard anything from law enforcement folks about how keen they are to, to enforce this?
SULLIVAN: I have not. I’ve just, you know, I’m familiar with the attorney general’s letter and what she’s saying, and what she’s saying, you know, is based on her legal opinion letter, which is not law. And so federal law, hemp is federally legal. And so Arizona law has to follow federal law if it’s not as expansive as the federal regulatory framework, which it’s not.
So these products are legal in Arizona and the, the, you know, concern we have is that, you know, the attorney general’s letter and any kind of law enforcement opens up the state to legal challenges.
KJZZ’s The Show transcripts are created on deadline. This text is edited for length and clarity, and may not be in its final form. The authoritative record of KJZZ’s programming is the audio record.
“}]] Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes this week sent letters to retailers and law enforcement officials, saying it is illegal for non-dispensaries to sell products infused with THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis. Read More
