THC beverages are flying off the shelves, by a state order

“It was nice to have,” said Dave Beyel Jr., whose family has long operated the large liquor store just over the bridge from Ocean City. “We were selling it and doing well with it.”

He said the store took its time before offering the beverages, while others moved more quickly to offer products that were legal as long as the intoxicating element was derived from hemp.

That changed with Gov. Phil Murphy’s signature on a new law in September, starting a countdown for sale of the products, one which is up Oct. 12. The law immediately banned the sale of any product with any detectable amount of THC to those under 21.

“Too frequently, these products are readily available to minors,” Murphy said.

New Jersey voters overwhelmingly approved legalizing marijuana in 2020, leading to the establishment of licensed cannabis dispensaries offering edibles, vapes, beverages and dried marijuana flower.

These products are something different. A federal farm bill in 2018 greatly broadened how hemp could be sold, allowing its use as a material but also in other forms. Hemp, marijuana and cannabis are all the same plant with different legal definitions, with hemp defined by its low concentration of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the chemical that provides cannabis with its intoxicating effects.

To be hemp, the plant needs to have less than 0.3% concentration of THC.

Area dispensaries offer weed at 20% to 36% THC.

But as Murphy, and hemp proponents, have pointed out, there are a lot of chemicals in cannabis. The federal rules apply to THC Delta 9, but don’t cover THC Delta 8, THC Delta 10 or other chemicals that have a similar effect.

“These products are sold outside of the regulated market for cannabis even though they can have similar effects, may contain harmful chemicals and other contaminants, and are often sold without appropriate testing or labeling,” Murphy said in his signing statement on the law.

“To some extent, I get it. You’ve got to keep people safe,” Beyel said in a recent interview.

There have been multiple reports of retailers selling intoxicating products to minors, and the law provided few safeguards. But he said his staff, and those at other liquor stores, are already trained in the sale of intoxicants and in spotting fake IDs.

“We’ve been here for 86 years. We’re trusted to serve alcohol and check IDs,” he said. “You have a distribution network out there already.”

The bill Murphy signed does include a carve-out for liquor stores, requiring the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Control Commission to establish rules for the sale of the products.

It’s just the latest obstacle added to an already complicated landscape of overlapping, and sometimes contradictory, state and federal laws governing cannabis and hemp, with the former still classified by federal authorities as among the most dangerous drugs in existence. That is expected to change in the coming years, but marijuana remains illegal federally, while a significant number of states have decided to legalize it.

Staff members with the Cannabis Regulatory Commission declined to be interviewed, citing a lawsuit filed last week.

A group of hemp businesses, including one in Sicklerville, Camden County, and some from around the country, have asked for an injunction against enforcing the new law, citing the federal farm bill’s definition of hemp, and forbade states from interfering with its interstate commerce .

“As a result of the amendments, lawsuits will suffer immediate, irreparable financial harm, and many businesses will be forced to close or lay off employees,” reads the suit filed last week in US District Court. “This will lead to thousands of lost jobs around the state and turn farmers, business owners and consumers into criminals, despite no changes in federal law and despite the protections Congress has afforded them.”

The complaint was filed against Matthew J. Platkin, the attorney general for New Jersey.

Products containing Delta 8 THC became increasingly visible in 2021. Over the summer, multiple liquor stores in the area began carrying THC-containing beverages, offered in brightly colored cans and a beverage option for those keeping “California sober.”

Customers Beyel spoke with appreciated the option, he said, and enjoyed the beverages. As of early August, the store offered more than 70 products with THC or CBD. Removing them from the shelves will have an impact, but not as big of an impact as on other businesses.

“I feel bad for those who invested millions of dollars,” he said. The change is not just taking place in New Jersey, he added, with new laws in California and Massachusetts, which both allow cannabis sales.

In Wildwood, Kannavis Botanicals on New Jersey Avenue offers hemp-derived products and makes clear it is not a licensed marijuana dispensary, with a license through the state Department of Agriculture to sell hemp instead. The store offers edibles, flower that is visually indistinguishable from dispensary cannabis and other products, including a THC-infused barbecue sauce.

A staff member who answered the phone this week said the business is in talks with state regulators but did not say the business would close by the Oct. 12 cutoff.

Some manufacturers are looking at options that would have low enough concentrations of THC to be considered intoxicating, which could still be sold to those over 21 through stores with alcohol beverage licenses, Beyel said.

A lot of towns don’t want a cannabis store, he said, but existing liquor stores could be a great distribution system.

“I know it sounds self-serving,” he said. Beyel added that most companies understood the rules were still being formulated.

Even in signing the law, Murphy described it as imperfect, but likely the best he would get on his desk. It gives new responsibilities to the Cannabis Regulatory Commission without adding funding. He said those with alcohol licenses who want to sell cannabis products should have to follow the same rules as those with cannabis licenses, which has been described as one of the most closely regulated industries in the state.

He said he is proud of the state’s cannabis regulations.

“The status quo is untenable, and this bill will put an end to it,” Murphy said.

As of Oct 12, any hemp-based intoxicating product can only be sold by businesses with cannabis licenses and overseen by the CRC.

“We must ensure that the market is not disrupted by the entry of businesses that are not required to play by the same rules,” Murphy said. “I welcome the Legislature’s cooperation to meet that objective. In the interim, the commission should ensure, to the extent permitted by law, that any regulations it adopts condition approval for alcohol licensees to sell or distribute intoxicating hemp products on compliance with regulations comparable to those that apply to similarly situated cannabis businesses.”