A leading beer industry trade group has put out a statement of guiding principles to address what it calls “the proliferation of largely unregulated intoxicating hemp and cannabis products,” warning of risks to consumers and communities resulting from THC consumption.
Among other recommendations, the Beer Institute advises in the new document that lawmakers take a “zero tolerance approach” to THC and driving—a policy that could prevent casual cannabis consumers from ever being able to legally drive due to how long the drug’s metabolites stay in the body after use—and keep in place the federal ban on combining intoxicating cannabinoids and alcohol.
The group also calls for a federal excise tax on both hemp and cannabis products, “with the tax rate set higher than the highest rate for any beverage alcohol product.”
“For decades, America’s brewers and beer importers have demonstrated their commitment to fostering a culture of moderation and the responsible consumption of our products, all within a robust regulatory and and taxation system,” president and CEO Brian Crawford claimed in a statement last week. “The current patchwork of intoxicating hemp and cannabis laws and regulations do not meet the same standards to which the beer industry willingly adheres.”
The Beer Institutes’s new guiding principles on hemp and cannabis products don’t take a position on legalization broadly, saying instead that “legalization of consumable cannabis products is for American voters, state legislatures and Congress to decide.” Nevertheless, it emphasizes the the “lack of scientific data regarding the consumption of intoxicating hemp and
The trade group, which represents American brewers, importers and industry suppliers, says that if intoxicating hemp products are legalized—which, under the 2018 Farm Bill, they already are at the federal level—then “policymakers should implement appropriate regulatory frameworks at the state and federal levels that inform and protect consumers and ensure intoxicating hemp and cannabis products are marketed, sold and consumed responsibly.”
Notably, the group’s guidance does not evaluate relative harm associated with alcohol versus marijuana consumption. A separate study earlier this year by investigators at the Alcohol Research Group and RTI International, however, found that secondhand harm from alcohol was nearly six times that of cannabis. Perceived harms from opioids and other drugs also outweighed those related to marijuana.