Committee hears regulators and retailers debate potency caps, package limits and transaction sizes
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Summary
Regulators and a dispensary owner told the committee lifting certain potency caps may reduce unsafe dilution practices; the draft would raise per‑package THC limits and increase transaction possession limits, prompting requests for comparative data and public‑health testimony.
The committee heard a sustained exchange about potency caps, package THC limits and transaction possession limits. James Pepper (speaking for the regulator) said reports suggest the current potency cap can push producers to dilute concentrates with additives to meet statutory limits, a practice the board sees as potentially adverse to public health.
Pepper described comparative charts showing that Vermont and Connecticut are among the few states retaining that cap; other states have taken different approaches, including enhanced labeling. "This cap ... is probably doing more damage than good from a public health perspective," Pepper said.
The draft would raise per‑package edible THC limits from 100 milligrams to 200 milligrams and raise a single‑transaction possession limit from 1 ounce to 2 ounces. Pepper and witnesses compared those proposals to neighboring states: Maine at 200 mg per package, New York and Connecticut at 100 mg (per the materials the board is compiling). Retail testimony from David Silverman said consumer purchasing patterns vary; "for the average, sort of median customer ... an ounce will last, you know, 3, 4 weeks," he said, and some households commonly keep more than an ounce at home.
Lawmakers requested additional data on public‑health outcomes, ER visit context, and cross‑state comparisons of product equivalency and labeling approaches before advancing statutory language.
The committee did not vote and asked the Cannabis Control Board and health witnesses to appear at a subsequent meeting with the requested reports.