Missouri Governor Mike Parson once again took to his podium Tuesday to announce a crackdown on unregulated psychoactive cannabis products. He announced a joint task force between the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control and Attorney General Andrew Bailey鈥檚 office that will help get products off of shelves and build on Bailey鈥檚 existing investigation into these products.
Because of what some consider a some chemicals extracted from the cannabis plant are mostly federally unregulated. seeking to ban products with these chemicals, enforced through the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control and the Department of Health and Senior Services.
However, while the , ATC enforcement was delayed after Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft submitted by the department.
Tuesday鈥檚 announcement brings them back into the fold.
According to Bailey, the ATC will be responsible for investigating stores with liquor licenses and collecting evidence of 鈥渄eceptive marketing practices.鈥�
The ATC will then submit referrals to the Attorney General鈥檚 Office through a new 鈥渄edicated electronic repository.鈥� Finally, the office will be able to 鈥渋nstantly evaluate those referrals and proceed with legal action against licensees who are breaking the law,鈥� Bailey said.
Bailey is also creating a new division of the of the AG鈥檚 office that he said will 鈥渨ork hand-in-hand with ATC to offer legal support.鈥�
鈥淥ur enforcement toolkit will be robust, from cease and desist letters and investigations to subpoenas and lawsuits to referrals for criminal prosecution where appropriate,鈥� Bailey said. 鈥淲e're committed to keeping unsafe products away from our kids and ensuring that those who break the law are held accountable.鈥�
The task force builds on the into these products that Bailey launched in April, which attempts to determine whether businesses are violating the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.
The is a consumer-protection statute that makes 鈥渄eception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, misrepresentation, unfair practice or the concealment, suppression, or omission of any material fact in connection with the sale or advertisement of any merchandise鈥� unlawful.
A Bailey spokesperson did not specify when asked whether the investigation targets all products with hemp-derived psychoactive compounds, or only ones that market in a specifically deceptive way.
During the press conference, both Bailey and Parson held up what looked like normal, branded bags of candy, but actually contained cannabis, they said.
Members of the say that despite lobbying for regulations for years and self-regulating their products in the meantime, they are being lumped in with 鈥渂ad actors.鈥�
鈥淲e want to make sure we're getting the right regulations out there,鈥� said John Grady, farmer and co-owner of . 鈥淲e want to protect our children. We want to protect Missouri citizens.鈥�
Parson said his actions aren鈥檛 meant to be a permanent solution.
鈥淥ur order allows us to stand in the gap on the behalf of Missouri families, until such time the General Assembly can offer a legislative solution to keep unregulated psychoactive cannabis products out of the hands of our children,鈥� he said.
Parson was flanked by various high-ranking Missouri officials, including Missouri House Majority Leader Jonathan Patterson, who is expected to be the next House speaker. He said he would push for regulations of these products during the next legislative session.
鈥淭his is something that we will pursue, trying to provide a regulatory framework for these products, some rules in place so that they're not marketed towards kids,鈥� Patterson said.
That, along with Parson鈥檚 acknowledgment that some in the hemp industry are 鈥渓egitimate businesses,鈥� provided some comfort to stakeholders in the Missouri hemp industry, who have been over whether their businesses will have a future.
鈥淚t sounds like the governor and [attorney general] pivoted from their initial broad brush that they originally did that was really going to impact the Missouri hemp industry,鈥� Grady said. 鈥淚t seems like we are going to a targeted enforcement of getting those illegal products out of Missouri, those things that are targeted towards our children, and hopefully working with us and letting the legislative body work with the industry to protect Missouri's children, protect Missouri businesses, to give us fair, practical and reasonable hemp regulations.鈥�
Since the Department of Health and Senior Services began enforcing the ban Sept. 1, it has "embargoed" 8,929 unregulated psychoactive cannabis items at 39 facilities, according to .
A DHSS spokesperson said what an embargo entails depends on what a business agrees to, and can mean destroying products, removing them from shelves, or tagging them with 鈥渄o not use鈥� tape. Some retailers refuse to embargo the products at all. The that some business owners claim they were forced to destroy products.
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