‘IT’S LIKE THE WILD, WILD WEST’
Loophole allows THC seltzers to be sold in Conn., but they could soon have their own set of rules
THC seltzers can get you high, but Connecticut lawmakers are poised to put them in a category all their own, distinct from every other product that contains THC.
Connecticut will likely create a separate system for taxation of THC seltzers with different rules than those governing cannabis products, so infused beverages can remain in package stores.
Rino Ferrarese, owner of Affinity
Grow in Portland, is one of only six operational cannabis growers in Connecticut. He said he’s heard from cannabis food and beverage manufacturers, retailers and cultivators, and, “Nobody wants the beverage alcohol industry selling cannabis products.”
“Connecticut’s market is still young and many businesses are still in the process of opening. It doesn’t make sense to give away the beverage sales in advance of the food and beverage manufacturers becoming operational,” he said. “Especially since the package stores will purchase THC beverages from outside the program.”
Should the bill pass in its most recent form, the state will effectively create four categories of products with THC, each with their own set of regulations.
Cannabis products may only be grown, produced and tested in Connecticut, and may only be sold by legal, licensed retailers and medical cannabis dispensaries. Cannabis products are subject to both state and local taxes, in part dependent on how potent they are.
Home-grown cannabis is legal but limited to six plants, three mature and three immature, grown indoors. High-THC hemp products are derived from plants with THC concentration lower than 0.3 percent by dry weight, but have been chemically altered to be more potent.
THC-infused beverages would be in their own category. sold in package stores or licensed cannabis retailers — not in supermarkets, restaurants or bars —and would con