High Levels of THC Found in Sample of Products from Unregulated Minnesota Market

Published on: May 11, 2023

A test of a small sample of products sold in the Twin Cities revealed amounts of THC past the legal limit.

Recently, investigators in Minnesota conducted a small survey of hemp-derived tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products sold in various locations within the city. None of the sites were required to have a license to sell THC products (1).

“The FOX 9 Investigators gathered five different types of THC gummies sold at shops throughout the Twin Cities metro and prepared them for a blind test,” they reported (1). “Each sample was separated into generic containers and labeled ‘A’ through ‘E’ to maintain the anonymity of each product.”

Two of the samples were close to the legal limit of 5 milligrams of THC, but one sample – which the packaging claimed contained 5 milligrams – contained 32 milligrams of THC (1). The final two samples also revealed levels of THC past the legal limit, and the potency for one sample was lower than advertised.

Edibles and beverages containing up to 5 milligrams of hemp-derived THC have been legal in Minnesota since July 2022 (2). Previously, only products containing small amounts of CBD were legal (2). “However, when lawmakers legalized the low-dose THC market, they did so without establishing any rules, which created an unchecked industry with virtually no accountability,” FOX 9 stated (1).

"We need licensing, we need taxation, better regulation and enforcement," said Jill Phillips, executive director of the Board of Pharmacy in December (1). The Board is the only agency with any regulatory oversight and has received dozens of complaints concerning THC products (1).

Legislation is being proposed to legalize cannabis in the state while also creating a regulatory oversight agency. In the meantime, temporary regulations are being suggested. "I am working as hard as I can to shrink that gray area,” said Senator Lindsey Port (DFL), who is sponsoring the legislation (1). “We’ve been talking with folks who do testing. We don’t have capacity in Minnesota right now, is part of the problem. We don’t really have the testing infrastructure because we have such a small medical marijuana program that really we need to scale that up."

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