Age Verification, Delta-8 THC, and Intoxicating Hemp Products (Video)

As I’ve previously discussed on this blog, intoxicating hemp products are here to stay. A big issue is how best to market and regulate them to ensure that they are safe and not easily obtained by minors. There is a major push for these products to be prohibited outright or sold only in state-regulated marijuana markets. These approaches are wrong for several reasons, which I discuss in an article you can read by clicking here.

I often hear people bemoan the fact that “delta-8 THC hemp products are sold at convenience stores!” as if that is a bad thing. In reality, convenience stores and retailers that sell other age-restricted items, such as vapes, tobacco and nicotine, alcohol, etc., are among the best places to distribute products that require adherence to safety standards, collecting of sales taxes on regulated items, and verification of age for purchase. This is because they have experience in dealing with regulated products, are used to safety audits, and train their employees on proper age-gating for adult products. If it’s a bad thing for convenience store and retailers to sell intoxicating hemp products, why should those same establishments be allowed to sell alcohol and tobacco, both of which are significantly more dangerous, unhealthy, and should not be sold to minors?

For this reason, we support and advocate for common sense regulations regarding intoxicating hemp products that focus on age-restrictions and safety by all retailers, rather than regulations that prohibit them, channel them into marijuana programs, or limit the milligrams of THC allowed in a product, all of which are flawed “solutions” to the problems of safety and access by minors. A good example of such a bill is Tennessee HB 1690, which defines, taxes, and regulates intoxicating hemp products and “prohibits the sale or distribution of products containing a hemp-derived cannabinoid to, or purchase of products containing a hemp derived cannabinoid on behalf of, persons under twenty-one (21) years of age.“

I discuss these issues and more with my friends Vince Gillen, VP of Sales at Global Widget, and Joe Agostinelli, Public Relations Manager at Global Widget, on a CPG & CBD University Podcast entitled “Hemp at Higher Standard: Age Verification“, which you can watch below. 

March 15, 2022

Rod Kight is an international hemp lawyer. He represents businesses throughout the hemp industry. Additionally, Rod speaks at cannabis conferences, drafts and presents legislation to foreign governments, is regularly quoted on hemp matters in the media, and is the editor of the Kight on Cannabis legal blog, which discusses legal issues affecting the hemp industry. You can contact him by clicking here.