In a win for businesses and cannabis aficionados who have seized on Louisiana's booming hemp-THC market, state lawmakers on Friday rejected a push to ban the intoxicating products, instead setting a slew of regulations on a fast-growing $33 million industry.
The state Senate approved a regulatory framework set forth by an overhauled version of House Bill 952, carried by Rep. Dustin Miller, D-Opelousas, which features age restrictions and limits on portion sizes of hemp-derived THC, the compound in the cannabis plant that gets users high. The House, meanwhile, tabled Senate Bill 237, carried by Sen. Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport, which sought a total ban on those products.
The outcome means people who've grown to enjoy those products will still be able to access them easily in the Bayou State — and businesses who began making and selling THC-infused snacks in recent years won't have to shut their doors or dramatically alter which products they offer.
Yet the hemp industry and fans of its products didn't get everything they hoped for: An amendment added to Miller's bill would ban sales of THC-infused beverages in bars and restaurants, cutting off a popular alternative for those seeking a break from alcohol on a night out.
THC and CBD seltzers and other beverages are seen for sale, Thursday, May 2, 2024, at Rad Dad Hemp in Baton Rouge, La.
"We're largely satisfied with the outcome. ... This is a huge win for Louisiana," said Joe Gerrity, CEO of New Orleans-based Crescent Canna, which makes and distributes THC-infused seltzers. But of the restaurant and bars amendment, he added, "the main impact will be on people who like to go out and enjoy themselves without consuming alcohol."
Pressly and Miller filed their bills amid outcry over the proliferation of THC-infused gummies, seltzers and tinctures that appeared on Louisiana shelves in droves after lawmakers accidentally legalized them in recent years. Opponents of the industry have said they're much too accessible and lack common-sense guardrails.
The fate of that industry hung in the balance of the legislative session’s final days as lawmakers spent much of the past week seeking a compromise. They first sought a medium between the two approaches by trying to amend Pressly's SB 237 on the House floor Friday.
Miller, other Democrats and some moderate Republicans criticized that bill and its proposed amendments as they came up for a vote.
While the amendments were pitched by Rep. Laurie Schlegel, R-Metairie, as a middle ground, supporters of Miller's bill said they fell short of true balance because they were still harsh enough to risk throttling the growing industry.
“I just want to say I know there are a lot of you in this room who smoke weed, who ingest weed," Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, told her House colleagues. "If you don’t vote against this, I think you’re being a huge hypocrite.”
The amendments failed 39-60 and the bill didn't come up again.
Hours later, the Senate took up Miller's HB 952. After tweaking the bill to restrict which stores can sell the products — barring their sale in convenience stores and gas stations, aside from truck stops — the upper chamber approved the bill, 37-1. The amended bill only lets those older than 21 buy the products and imposes a 5 mg limit on THC per serving, among other steps. Current regulations limit servings to 8 mg.
State Senator Thomas A. Pressly, R-Shreveport, walks to the senate floor at the State Capitol on Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
And under the amendment added by Pressly, restaurants and bars would no longer be able to sell THC-infused beverages — a blow for wholesalers of popular THC seltzers and people who like to drink them.
"Inaction in this industry would be unacceptable," Pressly told colleagues in the Senate, urging them to vote for Miller's legislation. In a text message, Pressly said he would table his bill after Miller's passed the Senate.
Miller and the House must still accept the Senate's changes for the bill to receive final passage. Miller did not immediately respond to a message asking if he would approve all the Senate's changes.
Louisiana's hemp-derived THC market started growing rapidly in 2022 after Republican lawmakers voted for legislation allowing the products. But a backlash ensued as some argued that the substance was much more potent than they’d known. Pressure from the medical marijuana and alcohol industries has at times fueled the regulatory push.
On Thursday, some stakeholders from the medical marijuana industry welcomed the resolution.
"The work by Sen. Thomas Pressly and Chairman Dustin Miller will begin the process of addressing the scourge of unregulated intoxicating, synthetic products sold over the counter and through the internet," John Davis, president of Good Day Farms, one of the state's two medical marijuana growers, said in a statement. "As a company that participates in a strictly regulated industry, we appreciate this first step and hope to see more public health and safety guardrails at both the state and federal level in the near future."