Minnesota THC expansion leads raft of new laws on hemp extracts, intoxicants

(This story has been updated to reflect that North Carolina’s governor signed that state’s hemp law.)

A first-of-its-kind law allowing adult-use THC sales in outlets other than medical marijuana dispensaries takes effect Friday in Minnesota, one of several states where statues will change the rules for hemp-derived products such as delta-8 THC.

Minnesota’s law limits CBD and delta-8 THC sales to adults older than 21 and sets new testing requirements for hemp extracts.

But the statute also allows those products to be sold in grocery and convenience stores.

New laws on hemp extracts will take effect Friday, July 1, which is the first day of a new fiscal year in many states and a common starting date for legislation.

Other hemp changes were due to take effect in:

• Oregon, where hemp-derived intoxicants will be limited to marijuana dispensaries.
• Maryland, where products containing delta-8 THC or delta-10 THC can’t be sold to people younger than 21.
• North Carolina, where a measure permanently removing “hemp or hemp products” from the state’s list of controlled substances was signed into law Thursday by Gov. Roy Cooper.

More than a dozen states considered legislation this year to either ban or regulate the conversion of hemp extracts into intoxicating cannabinoids.

But most of the proposals failed to make it to the finish line.