THC drink companies rush to sell inventory as Illinois ban takes effect

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Many hemp companies are shipping their remaining inventory to Wisconsin, Minnesota and Tennessee, which have different regulationsAt midnight this morning in Illinois,…

Many hemp companies are shipping their remaining inventory to Wisconsin, Minnesota and Tennessee, which have different regulations

At midnight this morning in Illinois, hemp-derived THC drinks transformed from grocery store commodities into illegal narcotics, and manufacturers have been rushing to sell their inventory or ship it out of state.

Republicans tacked a last-minute provision on to last year’s spending bill that ended the government shutdown, banning all hemp-derived THC products, including the THC-infused alcohol alternatives sold at liquor stores and grocery stores. Under the new law, no container can have more than 0.4mg THC total.

In June, Illinois passed a state-level law intended to align with the federal ban, initially set to go into effect this month. While Congress delayed the federal ban until December, Illinois did not change its state-level effective date.

There has been some confusion around the Illinois ban because of a lawsuit filed last week by the Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association, a hemp lobbying trade group that includes approximately 250 Illinois businesses. Some headlines suggested the lawsuit effectively paused the Illinois hemp ban until 19 November, but that pause only applies to businesses that sued.

The timing of the ban is unfortunate for Playdate, a non-alcoholic wine company that launched its first product, a THC-infused, NA rosé, less than two months ago. With less than two weeks to go before the ban, Playdate cofounders Sammy Dorf and Brian Ward were still unsure how to handle their remaining inventory. It’s possible the federal government will ultimately leave hemp-derived THC regulation to the states, mirroring their approach to medical and recreational cannabis.

Many hemp companies are strategically shipping their remaining inventory to Minnesota and Tennessee, which already have their own hemp regulations.

Joe Chura, CEO and founder of Go Brewing in Naperville, Illinois, got into the business the other way around.

“Probabl…

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