“All retailers selling intoxicating hemp products should be held to similar high safety standards as cannabis retailers.”
By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Currant
For a year, Rhode Island bars and restaurants had the opportunity to secure a license from the state’s former Office of Cannabis Regulation to sell intoxicating THC-infused beverages despite state regulations that prohibit them from being combined with alcohol, tobacco or nicotine.
Over 100 licensed retailers obtained a license between August 2024 and July 2025 when the Cannabis Control Commission put the brakes on issuing any new licenses to establishments that allow onsite consumption of alcohol in “furtherance of public health and safety.”
Now as regulators race to codify rules to catch up with the marketplace, the association representing the state’s hospitality industry is voicing strong opposition to the commission’s recommendation that lawmakers codify a ban on the sale of THC drinks at venues with a liquor license.
“They’re assuming we’re not going to follow the law,” Farouk Rajab, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Hospitality Association, said in an interview Monday.
Rajab said he was disappointed to see the commission recommend a ban in its final report submitted to the General Assembly on March 1. But he was not
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