You can eat or drink it, but you can't smoke it

NASHVILLE — Sweeping regulations on Tennessee's hemp industry are set to take effect in July, outlawing the most popular hemp-derived cannabinoid in the state, THCa. But while the state is busy reigning in the hemp industry, Delta 9 THC, the compound primarily responsible for producing a marijuana "high," will continue to be legally sold and consumed in Tennessee. As long as it is in the form of a drink or an edible, that is. Delta 9 THC is federally illegal when sourced from marijuana, but it is legal in concentrations up to 0.3% of the product's dry-weight when sourced from hemp. Last year, Tennessee passed a law banning THCa, which becomes Delta 9 THC by the time it is smoked. But that same ban doesn't extend to edibles or drinks which, when consumed, contain the exact same chemical. Those products will continue to be sold under regulations that are looser than those in many states that have approved recreational marijuana. Delta 9 THC will be allowed in edibles and drinks up to 15 milligrams per serving. That's over 50% more than the average serving size in 17 recreational states with potency restrictions. Likewise, Tennessee's new law will allow infused beverages containing up to 300 milligrams of THC — over three times the average for states with potency regulations. It raises the question: why criminalize the smokable form of a drug while instituting paper mache regulations on the same drug in drinks and edibles? Clint Palmer, compliance director for Hemp Law Group based in Nashville, said the alcohol industry had a big hand in creating the legislation that will soon take effect. Palmer also lobbies for the hemp industry and has served on the state's Medical Cannabis Commission. "So big alcohol their attorneys wrote the bill that is the 2025 bill that we're dealing with today," Palmer said. "So that is the reason why you see, throughout that bill, little bitty exclusions, little bitty weird statements." Alcohol companies have pushed toward selling THC-infused beverage products in what is likely a response to Americans reporting drinking record-low amounts of alcohol. The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America have even begun a national campaign for state and federal governments to "regulate hemp beverages like alcohol." The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Tennessee is the third-highest spender in the Tennessee legislature in the last five years, outspent by only HCA Healthcare and the Tennessee Association of Realtors. Tennessee's sprawling 30-page bill encompasses a variety of provisions, many of which can be seen as positively affecting those selling the beverage form of hemp-derived cannabinoids. The law transferred regulatory authority from the state's Department of Agriculture to the Alcoholic Beverage Commission. In addition, it creates a licensure structure mirroring the three-tier model currently used to regulate alcohol industry. In addition, the law requires all hemp-derived cannabinoid products to be sold behind a counter — unless they are 12-ounce beverage products. Similarly, the bill requires hemp-derived cannabinoids to have child-resistant packaging, while THC beverages are allowed to utilize a traditional pull-tab. Palmer said every hemp beverage distributor currently approved by the ABC is an alcohol company. "Why is that? Because the cannabis distributors have had a hard time because ABC didn't have the paperwork in line for them to be able to meet the requirements," Palmer said. "That is simply the regulatory and the law side of things that were basically created for [the alcohol industry] and not for our industry." Local hemp retailers similarly place blame on the alcohol industry. In an interview with Six Rivers Media last week, D.W. Cooper, owner of the East Tennessee Hemp Company in Jonesborough, described it as "getting in bed with the devil." Dustin Stanley, owner of Green Leaf Holistics in Kingsport, also said industry lobbyists were to blame. "Big liquor is taking over Tennessee," Cooper said. "Tennessee is the moonshine capital of the world, and they will make sure that they remain that way."