Vol. 1, Ed. 59 — Sun Oct 11: Rhode Island readies updated hemp-beverage guidance

Rhode Island regulators plan updated hemp guidance ahead of the Dec. 11 federal THC limit, the Marijuana Policy Project asks Congress to halt the hemp ban, and New Jersey weighs aligning its hemp-beverage deadline with the federal date. For general information only — not legal advice.

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The NRBC Compliance Brief is a daily two-minute audio briefing on U.S. alcohol and hemp/THC regulation, covering federal agencies and all 50 states: TTB rulings and rulemaking, state alcohol authority actions, the federal hemp-ban timeline, THC-beverage rules, court decisions, taxes, tariffs, licensing, and enforcement. A new episode arrives every morning around 7 AM Eastern.

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This is the New Realm Compliance Brief, Volume One, Edition Fifty-Nine, for Sunday, October Eleventh.

A quiet weekend on the regulatory calendar, so today's update is a short one.

Our top story: Rhode Island's Cannabis Control Commission plans to revise its September compliance bulletin and issue updated hemp guidance in the coming days, a spokesperson told the Rhode Island Current, as the federal limit of zero point four milligrams of total THC per container approaches its December eleventh effective date. Rhode Island's regulated hemp market booked about two point nine million dollars in sales last year, and THC drinks and seltzers made up roughly eighty-three percent of that. The state counted two hundred and one licensed hemp businesses as of October first, including one hundred sixty-nine retailers. The president of the American Beverage Licensees said banks may stop allowing credit card payments for hemp products once the federal change takes effect.

At the federal level, the Marijuana Policy Project asked supporters to urge Congress to halt the scheduled hemp ban and replace it with a regulatory framework, including an age limit of twenty-one plus testing, labeling, and potency standards. Several bills remain pending without floor action, while a coalition of state attorneys general has urged Congress to keep the restrictions in place.

Around the states: New Jersey Senate President Nicholas Scutari introduced a bill that would tie the state's November thirteenth hemp beverage sales deadline to the federal date of December eleventh, or later if Congress delays the federal change again.

On the radar: November twelfth, when synthetic cannabinoids are recriminalized federally and Missouri's intoxicating hemp law takes effect. December eleventh, when the federal THC limits begin. And November twenty-fourth, when the challengers' opening brief is due in the D.C. Circuit appeal over marijuana rescheduling.

Full details and source links are in today's email. This update is for general information only — it is not legal advice.