Oregon Bans CBD, Cannabis in Alcoholic Drinks
Federal and state laws put beverage makers in a quandary.
Dec 24, 2019
SALEM, Ore.—Oregon is famous for producing both craft beer and high-grade marijuana, but lawmakers are keeping the two products separate, according to The Oregonian.
As of Jan. 1, 2020, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which regulates both alcoholic products and recreational marijuana, will prohibit beer and other alcoholic beverages from containing THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, or CBD, the non-psychoactive component that reportedly relieves stress and pain.
Mark Pettinger, Commission spokesperson, cited concerns raised by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of potential liver damage from CBD, which also is known as cannabidiol.
“We’ve wanted to address the issue of CBD getting into alcohol and because there are a lot of unknowns about the effect of taking CBD,” Pettinger said. “There’s very little scientific evidence. People are using [CBD products] for wellness, but how they interact with other substances, not a lot is known.”
One prominent CBD-infused beer, Two Flowers IPA, was popular in The EastBurn, a Portland pub, according to Michael Fritz, one of the owners. “We were the first bar to put it on tap. It was a nice IPA,” he said.
The website of Coalition Brewing of Portland, the brewery that made Two Flowers, said the CBD’s “bitter grassiness augments the hop bitterness, while the citrusy terpenes in the CBD mirror the aromatics and hop flavors.”
Coalition Brewing recently went out of business, Fritz said, adding that his own customers drained the last of the CBD-infused beer 10 days ago. “It was a really good seller for us,” he said.
Pettinger said he was unaware of any other Oregon brewery producing CBD-infused alcoholic beverages.
Next, the Commission will work on prohibiting bars from mixing a non-alcoholic CBD beverage with an alcoholic beverage to create a CBD cocktail. The U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, which approves the formula for any kind of alcoholic beverage, has not okayed the use of CBD in any drinks.
In 1973, Oregon became the first state to decriminalize personal possession of marijuana. It legalized medical marijuana in 1998 and recreational marijuana use in 2014. But the state is in a bind because federal regulations for CBD, which is derived from hemp, have not caught up with the legalization of hemp on the national level.
Oregon's two senators, Democrats Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, worked with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, to legalize industrial hemp in 2018. Merkley told reporters last week that he is seeking an additional $2 million in the nation’s spending bill to assist the FDA in developing regulations for CBD oil.
For more details on selling CBD beverages, see “Balancing Act: Tread Lightly If You’re Going to Sell CBD Beverages” in the July 2019 issue of NACS Magazine.
