Beverage Regulatory Parity Act

Key Points

• The bill creates a national system to regulate hemp-derived beverages, requiring manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers to hold separate federal permits under a three-tier system modeled on alcohol law.
• Only people 21 and older can buy, possess, or drink these beverages, and each serving is capped at 5 milligrams of intoxicating THC to limit how strong the drinks can be.
• Labels must warn about risks to pregnant people and children, note that the drinks can cause a positive marijuana drug test, and advertising designed to target kids is banned.
• A new federal tax of 8 cents per milligram of THC would be collected from manufacturers when the beverages are ready for sale, raising new government revenue but likely increasing consumer prices.
• States and Indian Tribes keep the power to pass stricter rules or ban these drinks entirely, but they cannot block shipments simply passing through their territory to a legal destination elsewhere.