The Missouri General Assembly last week sent a bill to Gov. Mike Kehoe’s (R) desk that seeks to ban the sale of intoxicating hemp products starting November 12, First Alert 4 reports.
The proposal, House Bill 2641, seeks to align state law with an incoming shift in federal policy pushed by Republican lawmakers and signed into law by President Trump last year. Those changes, implemented as part of a spending bill to reopen the federal government, were designed to kill the burgeoning national marketplace for hemp-derived THC and other cannabinoids.
The bill sets a new definition for industrial hemp that excludes “cannabinoids that are not capable of being naturally produced” by cannabis, and “cannabinoids that are capable of being naturally produced … but that were synthesized or manufactured outside the plant.”
The proposal also prohibits retailers from calling themselves “dispensaries,” noting that the term is reserved for licensed cannabis retailers.
Under the bill, retailers will still be allowed to sell products that contain less than 0.4 milligrams of THC.
Lawmakers approved the bill with bipartisan support in both chambers.
Meanwhile, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway last month sent cease and desist letters to 33 different retailers that were allegedly selling cannabis products, or products marketed as cannabis, without a license.
