Liquid hemp products, such as tinctures, would be sold with measuring devices capable of delivering a single serving and products would offer no more than 20 servings per package.
“I think we’ve come to a solution,” Schexnayder said, adding he’s had conversations with regulators at the Health Department and Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control.
The two competing proposals could create a point of contention between House and Senate members who are already at odds over key financial issues that have dominated this legislative session. The bills each advanced out of their respective committees without objection last week, and will be heard by the full House and Senate. If approved, they will each go to the opposing chamber to be considered.
A hemp explosion
After Schexnayder passed his hemp laws in 2021 and 2022, hemp businesses exploded around the state. As of last week, more than 2,700 businesses, including Rouses Supermarkets, Circle K and Ulta Beauty, have registered with the state to sell the products, according to a list provided by the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control.
Hemp business owners and advocates say their products are a milder alternative to marijuana, let alone alcohol and other drugs, and that their customers seek them out for health benefits.
“They’re not coming to get high,” said Alysha Hickman, owner of The Goat Hippie in Bogalusa. “A lot of them are coming to sleep.”
But a growing number of lawmakers appear to have buyer’s remorse after supporting Schexnayder’s laws in recent years.
“I think there were false pretenses out there when legislators thought they were voting on one thing when really it was another,” Cathey said in an interview.
State Sen. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, said he’s in favor of banning all products with more than an “untraceable” amount of THC, an even tighter restriction than Cathey proposes.
“I don’t want to ban all hemp products. But I want to ban psychoactive hemp products. If we’re going to legalize marijuana…it needs to be done openly and honestly, which wasn’t done. It was sold to the Legislature as if we weren’t allowing psychoactive materials,” he said.
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