Oregon bans alcohol with cannabis

(DECEMBER 21, 2019) Alcohol and marijuana are both legal in the state of Oregon. They are both regulated by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC). This state agency issued a new ruling to keep the two apart.

The ruling is in response to brewers adding CBD to some of their alcoholic beverages, such as beer. CBD is a short name for cannabidiol, which is a non-psychoactive chemical from the cannabis plant. Some people use it to treat pain, insomnia, and anxiety. Cannabis also produces THC, which is the psychoactive part of the plant. This is what gives marijuana users a "high."

Under the new ruling, which begins January 1, 2020, alcoholic beverages may not contain either THC or CBD.

Mark Pettinger works for the OLCC. He told the AP, “We’ve wanted to address the issue of CBD getting into alcohol and because there are a lot of unknown unknowns about the effect of taking CBDs. ... There’s very little scientific evidence. People are using them for wellness, but how they interact with other substances, not a lot is known.”

The agency also discourages businesses such as bars from mixing other CBD products with alcoholic beverages.

According to the AP: "Oregon has been at the forefront in efforts to legalize marijuana. It was the first state to decriminalize personal possession, in 1973; legalized medical marijuana in 1998 and recreational use in 2014. But Oregon is in a bind because federal regulations surrounding CBD, which is derived from hemp, have not caught up with the legalization of hemp on the national level."