The Minnesota Department of Health has issued a bulletin warning consumers that retailers are selling unregulated and illegal cannabis products that exceed the state’s limit for THC. Minnesota legalized recreational marijuana earlier this year, but state-licensed cannabis dispensaries are not expected to open for at least a year, perhaps not until early 2025.

In its bulletin, the health department noted that the agency inspected 167 retailers offering hemp-derived cannabinoid products between August and November and found that more than one in three (39%) of the shops were selling illegal high-potency products. Under Minnesota law, hemp edibles and beverages sold in the state must not exceed 5 milligrams of THC per serving and no more than 50 milligrams per package.

“Illegal, high-dose hemp-derived products may contain hundreds of milligrams of THC per serving, and with multiple servings in a package, this can add up to thousands of milligrams of THC — far above the legal limit,” the health department wrote in a bulletin last week. “These products are produced by a variety of manufacturers and if consumed may lead to adverse health effects, such as becoming unresponsive, seizures or psychotic episodes.”

Garry Bowman, a spokesman for the Department of Health, added that more than 70% of the retailers inspected had “deficiencies of one kind or another,” such as incorrect labeling or product placement, according to a report from the Star Tribune.

Until earlier this year, Minnesota’s hemp-derived cannabinoid product market was unregulated, with many retailers throughout the state selling untested and potentially harmful products. This summer, however, the Department of Health was given the authority to inspect businesses and products to ensure compliance with testing requirements, dosage limits, packaging laws and other regulations. 

The Minnesota Department of Revenue reported that it collected nearly $3.4 million in taxes on cannabis products between July and October. The figure translates to about $34 million in hemp products sold during those four months, putting Minnesota on track to sell more than $100 million in hemp THC edibles and beverages annually. 

The inspections of retailers carrying hemp products are being carried out by the Office of Medical Cannabis, a new state agency that is part of the Department of Health. Chris Elvrum, the assistant director of the office, said that he was not surprised when he learned that so many of the state’s retailers were selling high-potency hemp products.

“I think the marketplace, it just hadn’t been regulated for a while, to any great degree,” Elvrum told the Star Tribune. 

More Inspections Coming

The recent probe of hemp retailers was carried out when the department had only one inspector on its staff. But the agency has recently hired five additional inspectors, Bowman reported, with another to be hired next month. The increased staff is needed to properly inspect Minnesota’s approximately 3,000 businesses including hemp shops, breweries and liquor stores that have registered with the state to sell or manufacture hemp products. 

Elvrum said that in the future, the inspectors will concentrate their efforts on businesses that most commonly sell hemp products that do not comply with state regulations.

“So, smoke shops and some hemp shops and a few convenience stores. But a lot of them are smoke shops or tobacco shops that carry a variety and have these high-dose products,” Elvrum said. “Right now, there’s about 800 of those registered.”

Inspectors will also eventually examine liquor stores, bars and restaurants that sell hemp THC seltzers and other beverages. Elvrum said those products have been given a lower priority for inspection because the health department has determined that they are generally more compliant with regulations than some other hemp products such as gummies.

Elvrum also noted that when inspectors discover illegal hemp products, retailers are asked to destroy them immediately or box them to be held for subsequent monitored destruction.

“So far, all of the places we’ve visited have either done it on the spot [or] in a few cases, we would send our inspector back to watch them destroy it,” he said.

Retailers found to be selling illegal hemp THC products are subject to fines of up to $10,000 per incident, according to the Department of Health. Businesses selling hemp products without registering with the state as required by law can also be fined up to $10,000. 

Elvrum said that the Office of Cannabis Management has so far not fined retailers not complying with the state’s hemp regulations. But that could change if inspectors return to a business previously found to be selling illegal products and discover repeat violations.

“We are generally giving them the benefit of the doubt on the first visit,” Elvrum said. “Certainly, repeated violations of the same nature are going to end up being considered for a penalty.”

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As a pair of cannabis legalization bills wind their way through the Minnesota state legislature, advocates are hailing the legislation as a common-sense approach to reforming marijuana policy. But the sheriff of a small rural county is asking lawmakers to consider the impact of legalization on law enforcement and urging caution.

The pieces of legislation, House File 100 and Senate File 73, would allow adults aged 21 and older to purchase up to two ounces of cannabis. Adults would be permitted to possess up to two ounces of cannabis in public and up to five pounds in a private residence. Adults would also be allowed to gift up to two ounces of cannabis to another adult. The bills also permit the home cultivation of marijuana, with adults allowed to grow up to eight cannabis plants, including up to four mature plants.

The bills, which are currently in the process of being considered by numerous legislative committees in both the House and Senate, also establish a framework for the regulation of commercial cannabis production, processing and sales. The legislation tasks a new Office of Cannabis Management with the licensing and regulation of cannabis businesses and contains provisions that permit cities and counties to own and operate government-run dispensaries. In addition to cannabis cultivators, processors and retailers, the bills authorize licenses for home delivery services and temporary permits for on-site consumption of cannabis products at special events.

The legislation also includes social equity provisions including automatic expungement of records of previous marijuana-related offenses. Additionally, social equity applicants for cannabis business licenses would be given bonus points during the application scoring process.

Travis Copenhaver, a partner at the cannabis law firm Vicente LLP, said that the proposed cannabis legalization legislation includes provisions designed to ensure the Minnesota adult-use cannabis market is not dominated by large companies and incorporates the experiences of other states that have legalized cannabis.

“Legalization is always a difficult time with many unanswered questions,” Copenhaver writes in an email to High Times. “Senate File 73/House File 100 would create 12 adult-use license types, each with the goal of preventing monopolization and ensuring opportunities created are for the benefit of Minnesota and its residents.”

“As these bills continue to move forward, Minnesota has the luxury of studying the successes and failures of other states in its region, as well as its own successful medical program,” he added.

County Sheriff Urges Caution in Minnesota

Sheriff Chad Meester of Lincoln County, a rural jurisdiction in the southwestern part of Minnesota with fewer than 6,000 residents, urged lawmakers and state residents to exercise caution in the drive to legalize marijuana. In a social media post cited by the Marshall Independent, Meester implored county residents to consider arguments both for and against legalizing marijuana.

“Basically, what I’m trying to inform the public and my constituents, there needs to be in the legislature some serious, serious consideration of the pros and cons,” Meester said.

“There are some serious concerns,” about legalizing marijuana, Meester said, adding that he is concerned about the potential for an increase in impaired drivers on the state’s roadways. He also acknowledged that deputies would have challenges determining if a driver is impaired by marijuana.

“We would need training, we would need resources to deal with that,” Meester said.

Meester called for “adequate fundraising” for law enforcement agencies to successfully transition to cannabis legalization. The sheriff also said that legislation should include funding to develop a roadside test for impairment, training for drug recognition officers and other public health and safety costs.

“For me, I would like to know how the experts weigh in on it,” wrote Meester.

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The United Nations’ (UN) narcotics watchdog issued a press release on March 9, saying that U.S. adult-use cannabis laws are out of sync with the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, (with roots in Reefer Madness) and that the “trivialization” of youth harms from cannabis is a major cause for concern.

The UN’s International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said that it is “warning” in its Annual Report 2022 that the wave of adult-use efforts in U.S. states “contravenes the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs” and sends the wrong message to youth.

“The most concerning effect of cannabis legalization is the likelihood of increased use, particularly among young people, according to estimated data,” the INCB wrote. “In the United States, it has been shown that adolescents and young adults consume significantly more cannabis in federal states where cannabis has been legalized compared to other states where recreational use remains illegal.”

The UN 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs states that UN member States must carry out the provisions of the Convention within their territories. U.S. state laws don’t appear to carry much weight. “The internal distribution of powers between the different levels of a State cannot be invoked as justification for the failure to perform a treaty,” the Convention reads. 

The INCB continued, saying, “There is also evidence that general availability of legalized cannabis products lowers the perception of risk and of the negative consequences involved in using them. New products, such as edibles or vaping products marketed in appealing packaging have increased the trend. INCB finds that this has contributed to a trivialization of the impacts of cannabis use in the public eye, especially among young people.”

“The expanding cannabis industry is marketing cannabis-related products to appeal to young people and this is a major cause for concern as is the way the harms associated with using high-potency cannabis products are being played down,” said INCB President Jagjit Pavadia.

Pavadia continued, “Evidence suggests that cannabis legalization has not been successful in dissuading young people from using cannabis, and illicit markets persist.”

The legalization of adult-use cannabis—not candy-flavored Adderall, sometimes used by six-year-olds—is the UN’s cause of concern in the U.S. Edibles and vape pens with candy and cereal flavors also raise an alarm at the INCB.

Ironically, the 1961 Single Convention can be traced to the Reefer Madness era in the U.S., and shouldn’t be used as any real metric, according to NORML. 

“Cannabis policy reform advocates have been readily vexed by the United Nation’s extreme anti-cannabis advocacy and propaganda since the 1970s, and arguably after America’s original drug czar Harry J. Anslinger, in his last act as a life-long anti-cannabis zealot and 30-year plus federal drug czar, he watched President John F. Kennedy commit the world and then American-dominated United Nations to America’s Reefer Madness via the signing of the Single Convention Treaty in 1961,” wrote former NORML executive president, Allen St. Pierre.

The report then says that the U.S. should decriminalize and depenalize cannabis alternatively instead of legalizing adult-use.

According to the INCB, the UN provides more than enough leniency: “The convention-based system offers significant flexibility for States to protect young people, improve public health, avoid unnecessary incarceration and address illicit markets and related crime.”

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