Was the Sale of THC Products Accidentally Legalized in Louisiana?

Last week, the website Reddit reported that Louisiana legislators may have accidentally left a loophole in the law governing the usage of hemp that is currently allowing retailers to legally distribute recreational THC in Louisiana.

Get our free mobile app

Apparently a number of pictures of retailers advertising their sales of products full of THC, which is the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana, were sent to legislators in an email declaring that recreational THC was now legal in Louisiana.

The article goes on to highlight that the current legislation regarding adult use hemp was introduced by Louisiana House Speaker Clay Schexnayder in an

.. effort to loosen the rules on hemp, which followed a similar action in the federal farm bill in 2018, was initially pitched as a way to establish hemp -- a cousin of marijuana with far lower levels of the psychoactive chemicals -- as an agricultural commodity. But Schexnayder’s 2022 bill set up an “adult-use” market for consumable products made from hemp. Schexnayder assured fellow legislators, many of whom oppose legal recreational marijuana, that his legislation wouldn’t give people access to products that get them high.

This past Friday, February 17, at a meeting of the Drug Policy Board, the oversite was brought to light and the board voted to ask the Louisiana Legislature to repeal regarding adult-use consumable hemp.

The Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control considers this an "increased threat to public safety" and demanded stores remove any signage that advertises  "legal THC products."

In a statement from Schexnayder himself, the Representative writes, "If the Louisiana Department of Health is approving products with high levels of THC because of any perceived loophole or nuanced language in the bill, then they need to stop immediately and are going to have to explain to myself and the rest of the Legislature why they took that action."

However, until legislative action is taken, owners of gas stations and vape shops all over Louisiana would appear to be within their legal rights to continue distributing the "adult use hemp".