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Delawareans who enter a liquor store, restaurant, CBD store, smoke shop or just look online can often find a relatively new product for sale — the cannabis-infused beverage.
The intoxicating drinks, which have no alcohol, go by names such as Bliss Day, Star Gazer, BRĒZ, Enjoy, Delta and so many more.
If you drink a 12-ounce can with 10 milligrams of THC — the active ingredient in marijuana — you’ll get a slight buzz. Drink more, and you can get pretty high.
With so many liquid THC brands and strengths out there in so many types of businesses in a state that in April 2023 legalized weed, Delaware lawmakers and regulators now want to decide where it can be sold.
To that end, a bill working its way through the General Assembly would only permit liquor stores to sell the drinks. In addition, the handful of microbreweries that make their own THC-infused beverages would be allowed to sell them for “off-premises consumption.”
Should the bill pass and get signed by Gov. Matt Meyer, shoppers would no longer be able to pop into a CBD store, smoke shop or other retail store to get them, or enjoy the drinks while dining out.
Nor would adult-use marijuana stores, some of which could open later this year, be permitted to sell the marijuana product. Companies that sell THC-infused-beverages also would not be able to legally fulfill online orders from Delaware residents.
State Rep. Deborah Heffernan, lead sponsor of the legislation, said it’s important that the THC-infused drinks get tested and approved by the state before they are allowed to be sold.
The suburban Wilmington Democrat said it makes sense to permit only liquor stores to sell them.
Heffernan told WHYY News her proposal is both logical and workable because liquor stores are part of Delaware’s longstanding “three-tier’’ system for selling alcohol that’s shipped by approved manufacturers to approved distributors, who then deliver beer, wine and spirits to the licensed liquor stores for sale to customers.
“These beverages are everywhere in our state,’’ Heffernan said. “We need to make sure they’re safe for people to ingest and that we make sure we know what level of THC is in there.”
The bill would limit the amount of THC to 10 milligrams per 12-ounce container in an industry where some products have a much higher level of THC, up to 50 milligrams per serving.
The bill would also levy a tax of 50 cents per container. Heffernan had initially proposed charging $1 per container when she proposed the bill last month.
Without any tax, one 12-ounce can costs roughly $4 to $10, depending on the concentration of THC.
Alcohol industry supports the bill
Delaware’s alcohol industry, which has seen a decline in sales in recent years, supports the measure, and the president of its leading beer distributor spoke in favor of it at a recent House committee hearing.
“Surveying our market, many Delaware liquor stores already sell hemp-based THC-infused beverages,” testified Paul Ruggerio, who runs NKS Distributors and called for robust testing of the products. “We are not opposed to on-premises sales.”
Delaware, one of 24 states that have legalized marijuana, is just the latest to grapple with how to regulate THC-infused sodas, seltzers, teas and cocktails.
Connecticut, for example, allows them to be sold in both approved liquor stores and marijuana retailers.
In neighboring New Jersey, the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission is in the process of creating specific regulations for how and where they can be sold.
The sale of recreational marijuana remains illegal in Pennsylvania.
Heffernan’s bill is currently on the Delaware House ready list, meaning she can bring it to the floor for a vote anytime before the legislative session ends June 30. The bill needs a three-fifths vote in both the state House and Senate because it contains a tax.
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