The House passed a cannabis bill last week that would permit intoxicating hemp-derived beverages to be sold in licensed Massachusetts liquor stores while ordering edible intoxicating hemp-derived products like gummies off store shelves, but critics say the legislation fails to address the core problem of enforcement at the local level.
Intoxicating hemp-derived edible products have the same active ingredient as cannabis, but are not subject to any oversight by the state Cannabis Control Commission. Sales of hemp products have proliferated across the state because of a federal loophole that defines hemp differently than cannabis.
State agencies issued guidance last spring that declared the hemp products illegal in the state, but enforcement of the ban has remained uneven, with local boards of health complaining they do not have the resources to police hemp products and take them off the shelves in their communities.
The law directs local boards of health to monitor the sale of any edible hemp products, including taking samples from stores for testing, removing any illegal products, and providing written warnings of added steps that will be taken for a subsequent offense.
Cheryl Sbarra, the head of the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards, said that local health boards don’t have the resources to carry out enforcement without added funding. “Your law is only as good as your ability to enforce it, and if you don't have the ability to enforce it because you don't have any money, then the law is meaningless,” she said.
