Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) last week signed a bill legalizing up to 5 milligrams of THC in hemp-derived food and beverage products. The products can only be sold to those 21-and-older.
The bill effectively legalizes products with low levels of delta-8 and delta-9 THC in concentrations up to 5 milligrams per serving, and up to 50 milligrams per package.
Kurtis Hanna, lobbyist for the Minnesota chapter of the NORML, said she thinks the measure is a way “in which Minnesotans are going to be able to check out what it’s like to have legal products being sold on shelves in a non-gray market.”
Last month, a federal court in California ruled that the 2018 Farm Bill – which federally legalized hemp in the U.S. – repealed prohibitions on other cannabinoids including delta-8 THC. In the ruling, Judge D. Michael Fisher cited the “plain text” of the law as the basis for the court’s opinion.
Minnesota’s rules do crack down on vaped delta-8 THC, according to a Star Tribune report, as the 0.3% limit on THC content now includes “any tetrahydrocannabinol.” That limit will cause a shake-up at Minnesota smoke shops that sell highly concentrated delta-8 products, the report says.
Hanna added that the measure is “pretty exclusively dipping that toe into beverages and edible food products as opposed to making any progress on smokeable or vaporizable products” but called its passage “a positive outcome.”
In a press release announcing the signing of the legislation, along with nine other bills, Walz did not mention the measure.
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