As the debate continues over a bill to legalize adult use of marijuana in Minnesota, those who produce THC-infused seltzers are concerned the new law would undo several months of progress they’ve made.
Matt Schwandt with BauHaus Brew Labs will testify this afternoon before a House committee about what adjustments he and other brewers would like to see for the bill.
Schwandt says the bill passed last summer has been great for his brewery, allowing them to sell a new option in the THC seltzer as the beer market continues to decline nationally.
And while Schwandt and many others in the THC market support legalizing the recreational use of mairjuana, the language in the bill has him concerned.
“We’re in favor of adult-use recreational cannabis in Minnesota. What HF100, and its senate counterpart, does is it lumps in hemp-derived THC edibles with marijuana, making them marijuana businesses, even though what we are doing is federally and state legal,” Schwandt said.
This is an issue, as Schwandt pointed out his business, and other THC edible businesses, would be considered “operating in a federally illegal enterprise” under the wording of the bill.
Because of this, Schwandt says the bill would create a situation where businesses like his are no longer able to write off certain expenses on tax forms or do business with multi-state banks.
This would force businesses to drastically alter what they’ve been doing since the state allowed for certain THC products last summer, and even more so, he says it would force them “out of the market.”
“It’s going to destroy the hemp market as we know it,” he said.
The bill could also force brewers to use separate equipment when making THC or cannabis-infused products, even though he says there haven’t been any cross-contamination issues with THC products or gluten-free products because of the processes they use.
The bill has yet to be passed as Minnesota legislatures continue to go back and forth on this, and several other topics like sports betting.
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