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St. Louis County hearing on Bill 15 spotlights safety, taxation and whether intoxicating hemp should be regulated like marijuana
Summary
County council held hours of testimony on Bill 15, which would require intoxicating hemp-derived products to be sold and regulated like marijuana in licensed dispensaries. Speakers included the bill sponsor, public-health scientists, testing labs, retailers, veterans and industry founders who debated safety, testing, taxes and state vs. local regulation.
Chairwoman Days opened a Committee of the Whole hearing Sept. 9 to take public testimony on Bill 15, an ordinance that would add chapter 6.31 to the Saint Louis County code to treat intoxicating cannabinoid products derived from hemp the same as marijuana and require they be sold only in licensed dispensaries.
Sponsor Councilwoman Clancy said the measure responds to a two-tier market created by the 2018 Farm Bill that allows intoxicating hemp products to be sold in gas stations, vape shops and unlicensed stores without child-safe packaging, independent testing or enforced age checks. "If it comes from hemp and it intoxicates, it should be regulated like marijuana," she said, outlining enforcement by the County Department of Public Health modeled on the Tobacco 21 program and administrative penalties (she cited $500 for a first violation…
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