What THC drinkers in Minnesota should know about the U.S. ban

THC drinks in Minnesota could go out the same way they came in: fast and unexpectedly.

Legalized by a state bill in 2022 — which famously caught some unaware Minnesota legislators off guard on what they voted for — the marijuana-adjacent beverages are due to be prohibited in a similarly surprising way across the country next fall.

A federal ban on both hemp-derived beverages and edibles was tacked onto the bill U.S. Congress passed last month to stop the government shutdown. The move effectively bans hemp products with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container. In contrast, Minnesota allows edibles containing up to 5 milligrams of THC per serving and beverages containing up to 10 milligrams.

It all has Minnesota breweries feeling like they’re being kicked when they’re down.

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Facing slumping sales from declining alcohol consumption in recent years, beer makers, cideries and other beverage makers around the state have come to heavily rely on THC drinks for revenue. Some breweries, including big Minneapolis craft-beer mainstays Surly and Fulton, counted THC sales as nearly equal to beer sales in recent years.

“It was a godsend to Minnesota breweries at a vital time,” said Fulton CEO Ryan Petz, “and it really was the consumers who led the way and asked for it.”

Dan Justesen, founder of Utepils Brewing and its THC drink brand Bandwagon, said, “I think a lot of people picking up THC cans at a liquor store or grocery store still aren’t comfortable going into a dispensary. Which is what they’re going to have to do if this doesn’t change.”

Justesen, Petz and several other brewery operators spoke out at a news conference at the State Capitol last week, where both of Minnesota’s U.S. senators and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar denounced the ban. All pledged to lobby over the coming year to keep THC products legal.

We know where Minnesota brewers and now some of our lawmakers stand on the issue. But what should consumers look for? What can Minnesota THC drinkers expect in the coming year leading up to the ban?

Here are some facts that hemp-beverage drinkers in Minnesota will likely want to know, along with opinions from experts on the subject.

The federal ban isn’t due to go into effect until Nov. 12, 2026. Breweries and other makers of the popular drinks and edibles are still making their product in the meantime.

Said Justesen at Utepils, “People don’t need to start stockpiling it in their basement. Not yet.”

Minnesota liquor store owners were also part of the news conference at the capitol, and they seemed as committed to THC products as the makers were. Melissa Surdyk, co-owner of Surdyk’s Liquor & Cheese Shop in Minneapolis, echoed brewers’ contention that shop owners are listening to consumers on this front.

“Customers tell us they enjoy these products because they help them focus, feel motivated or help them unwind,” Surdyk said, “and because they fit naturally in their daily routines.”

Some Minnesota breweries were so, um, green on the THC beverage front at first, they mistakenly used certain types of aluminum cans in which the potency essentially bled out too fast. Those problems were quickly resolved, though, and now most makers of THC drinks say the beverages are good for well over six months and oftentimes up to a year.

A more apt shelf-life comparison than beer is soda, since sugar is a common ingredient in hemp drinks that can go bad. More sugar equals less shelf life. Also, THC drinks with real fruit in them might go stale a bit sooner.

“This isn’t just stoners,” said Justesen. “This is every-day, hard-working people who’ve come to enjoy [a THC drink] because it relaxes them or helps them sleep or whatever. So I think there can be real momentum here.”

Even if you don’t get formally involved, Indeed’s Bandy added, there’s still a way to support your favorite locally made THC product: “Just keep buying it,” he said. “That will certainly help bolster the effort.”

The federal bill that passed in October was intended to close a loophole created by the Farm Bill of 2018, which legalized hemp on a federal level, not marijuana. If a cannabis plant or product contains 0.3% or less Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the compound that gives users a high), then it was considered hemp, per that 2018 bill.

Minnesota legalized recreational marijuana in 2022, and licenses are now starting to trickle out to a growing number of dispensaries to sell “real weed” within the state.