Sorry, Oregon drinkers, this bud’s not for you

State says no for now to cannabis-infused brew

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon is renowned for its craft beer and increasingly for its high-grade marijuana, but the state is keeping the two apart — for now.

In a new ruling, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which regulates alcoholic products and recreational marijuana, says beer and other alcoholic drinks as of Jan. 1 may not contain THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, or CBD, the non-psychoactive part, which is said to relieve stress and pain.

Mark Pettinger, spokesman for the agency, cited concerns raised by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about potential liver damage from CBD, also known as cannabidiol.

“We’ve wanted to address the issue of CBD getting into alcohol and because there are a lot of unknown unknowns about the effect of taking CBDs,” Pettinger said Friday.

Coalition Brewing of Portland, which recently went out of business, brewed one prominent CBD-infused beer, Two Flowers IPA. The brewery said on its website that the CBD’s “bitter grassiness augments the hop bitterness, while the citrusy terpenes in the CBD mirror the aromatics and hop flavors.”

Pettinger said he didn’t know of any other Oregon brewery that makes CBD-infused beer.

Oregon legalized medical marijuana in 1998 and recreational use in 2014.

But the state is in a bind because federal regulations surrounding CBD, which is derived from hemp, have not caught up with the legalization of hemp on the national level.

Pettinger noted that the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which approves the formula for any kind of alcoholic beverage, has not approved the use of CBD in any drinks.

He said that until federal agencies establish regulations surrounding CBD, his agency felt it needed to step in and impose the ban.