Beer Industry Trade Group Calls Out Hemp THC Sector’s ‘Bad Actors’ For Allegedly Marketing To Children

THC-infused beverages regulation is the new bar fight in America, and Minnesota’s the crowded tavern where elbows are flying. The beer industry, bruised by slipping sales and a generation that treats hangovers like a historical artifact, has joined cannabis players to demand federal guardrails on hemp-derived THC drinks and edibles. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison signed on with 38 other AGs, urging Congress to close what they call a 2018 Farm Bill loophole that let “bad actors” pump out potent, candy-coated products for the masses. The beer lobby’s point man drove it home with a clean jab—you’ll never see a beer ad with Santa or the Easter Bunny—while pushing for parity in rules and oversight, something the Beer Institute’s policy push has been telegraphing for months. Ellison’s name on a multi-state letter to Congress signaled the moment: the freewheeling hemp beverage boom is about to meet the bouncer at the door.

The loophole, the lid, and the line

Here’s the rub. A House Agriculture Committee amendment would redefine “hemp” to only include naturally occurring, naturally derived, non-intoxicating cannabinoids—a surgical phrase that could end up amputating big swaths of the market. If it passes, synthetically derived THC and loads of hemp-based edibles, beverages, oils, and even soaps could become contraband overnight, bumping headlong into Minnesota’s 2022 law that carefully legalized low-dose THC products. Congress is jammed up on the Farm Bill, so the melee may slide into the agriculture appropriations scrum instead. Potency sits at the heart of this: Minnesota caps drinks at 10 milligrams of THC, while Virginia and Connecticut go with 2. Meanwhile, cowboys elsewhere are selling cans claiming 200 milligrams. That’s not a casual sip; that’s a flight plan. Reasonable caps—say 5 milligrams, with verified labeling and age gates—feel like reality, not heresy. And despite the pearl-clutching over kids, the most robust evidence north of the border shows youth use hasn’t spiked under sane rules—see Youth Marijuana Use Has Declined Since Canada Enacted Legalization, Federally Funded Study Shows.

The social tonic and the shifting palate

Enter Cann—one of the category’s poster children for the “natural social tonic” era—proof that a fizzy, low-dose buzz can carve space between club soda and IPA. Co-founder Jake Bullock says the $30 billion hemp-adjacent sector employs 330,000 people, and he’s not wrong to fear a dragnet definition that scoops up the good with the grifters. Cann sells in roughly 30 states, now even showing up at mainstream retailers like Target. Gen Z treats these drinks like modular mood lighting: one can, then maybe another an hour later. A little float, no morning sandpaper tongue. And every can cracked is one less beer for a shrinking market. Voters, for their part, keep breaking in the same direction; fresh sentiment echoes that cannabis retail can help local economies—see Most Ohioans Support Opening New Marijuana Shops In The State And Say They Improve The Economy, Poll Finds. That’s not a fad; that’s a palate change.

Ellison has tried to draw a clean line in the sawdust. In a statement titled “Protecting Minnesota’s THC Industry”, he says he wants to stop out-of-state operators from trucking in potent, kid-bait products, not nuke a local market Minnesota has been carefully tending. Critics read the AGs’ letter differently: a prohibition on intoxicating THC “of any kind” would carpet-bomb the sector, from seltzers to gummies, and blast a new revenue stream for small brewers who’ve pivoted into alcohol-free THC formulations to survive. Meanwhile, Sen. Rand Paul wants an 18-month timeout to study a sane regulatory framework—maybe the first adult in the room asking to read the menu before ordering. The politics trace familiar highways: legalization as a tool for public goods, like in Legalize Marijuana To Fund Broadband Access Expansion, Wisconsin Democratic Candidates For Governor Say; sovereignty and jurisdiction flashpoints, as in Nebraska Tribe Punches Back After State Officials Hint At Prosecuting People For Buying Marijuana On Its Reservation. America always negotiates its vices on contested turf: county lines, reservation borders, statehouses, and supermarket endcaps.

So where does “fair” land when the music stops? Start with product safety and truth in labeling. Set a national potency ceiling that matches lived reality—5 milligrams per serving, with a sensible per-container cap. Require age verification and child-resistant packaging. Kill the Halloween-candy copycats and mascots. Put formulas and labels through federal review, the way beer has endured for generations, without erasing plant-derived, low-dose options that work for adults who want a mellow, social alternative. Above all, don’t confuse regulating with erasing. Minnesota’s experiment—built on modest doses, clear rules, and adult access—deserves federal scaffolding, not a wrecking ball. If you’re exploring compliant, low-THC paths for your own ritual, take a slow lap through our curated selection here: https://thcaorder.com/shop/.