Missouri VFW inspected by state regulators as part of ban on intoxicating hemp products

VFW Post 2661 in Washington, Missouri (Photo by Max Mueller).

Not long after Commander Jason Stanfield had lowered the flag Wednesday to honor the lives lost on Sept. 11 at his Franklin County VFW Post, he learned state food inspectors had arrived.

“It’s not an easy day,” Stanfield said. “9/11 is a tough day for all of us, particularly for veterans. I was not in the best mindset.”

The regulators said they had received a complaint that the post’s bar had been selling seltzers that contain hemp-derived THC — which has the same intoxicating effect as THC from marijuana that’s sold at dispensaries.

The bar was selling a brand of fruity seltzers called UR Lit , which contains 5mg of Delta-9 THC.

While hemp is federally legal, Missouri recently joined a growing number of states trying to ban all intoxicating hemp products.

When Gov. Mike Parson signed his executive order on Aug. 1 to ban the products, he said his primary focus was to protect children consuming the products that resemble popular candy, like Lifesavers, or fruity drinks.

Given the governor’s goal, Stanfield said he was surprised the state wanted to inspect the post, where members are well over 21.

“There’s not a whole lot of kids that run around the VFW,” he said.

Since the ban went into effect on Sept. 1, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services officials have inspected 74 establishments and found intoxicating products at 42 of them, said Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the department.

On a social media post on Wednesday, Stanfield described the inspection as a “raid,” but Cox said that description is “misleading” because there were just two inspectors responding to a complaint.

“The two inspectors were let inside through a locked door upon request,” Cox said, “but quickly recognized that the VFW Post did not pose an immediate cause for concern, specifically in regard to Missouri children. As a result, zero product was embargoed or destroyed.”

Cox said the department has “no plans in place of returning to the establishment.”

Hemp and marijuana are essentially terms the government uses to distinguish between the part of the cannabis plant that can get you high when smoked – that’s marijuana – and the part that can’t — that’s hemp.

But with a little science and extraction, people can enhance the small amount of the naturally occurring THC, or the psychoactive component, in hemp to make edibles and drinks.

Because hemp isn’t a controlled substance like marijuana, there’s no state or federal law saying teenagers or children can’t buy products, such as delta-8 drinks, or that stores can’t sell them to minors, Parson said.

And there’s no requirement to list potential effects on the label or test how much THC is actually in them. State lawmakers have failed to pass such requirements the last two years.

Stanfield said the state ban is harmful for VFW members who are trying to recover from alcoholism or opioid addiction.

“I have testimony after testimony in my post alone of people that are still alive today,” Stanfield said, “because they use cannabis to get off of their opioids that they were addicted to.”

During the inspection, he said the DHSS employees told him that the drinks were considered “adulterated.” If a product is considered adulterated, DHSS has the authority to embargo it – which means put a tag on it until the department gets a court order to destroy it.

Stanfield points to the state law that says, “a food shall not be considered adulterated solely for containing industrial hemp, or an industrial hemp commodity or product.”

That line was added to Missouri’s law in 2018, after Congress legalized hemp as part of the federal Farm Bill. It was part of a Missouri House bill that brought the state’s definition of hemp in alignment with the federal government’s.

It is the same law fueling the Missouri Hemp Trade Association’s lawsuit against the governor’s ban.

“I will continue to comply with federal law and sell these products until they’re not legal,” Stanfield said, “to give my veterans a non-alcoholic option in a place where they can come and be with other veterans and not have to consume alcohol.”