Illinois To Ban Hemp-derived THC Products

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

The Chicago Immigration Hub is your one-stop shop for the city's most comprehensive immigration coverage. Get news and resources from 15 local organizations, including WBEZ and the Chicago Sun Times, at suntimes.com/immigrationhub.

SPEAKER_2 (0:39)

Be sure to listen all the way through the podcast for a breakdown of the day's top local stories. But first, we talked about a new state law that's going to affect this Thursday. It's a ban on hemp-infused products that can cause a buzz. Except at cannabis dispensaries, these products will not be able to be sold at places like Texas or New York. Products will not be able to be sold at places like breweries or local markets. There is a carve out for companies that sued until November 19th, but this has a big impact overall on small businesses that sell hemp THC drinks. We talked with Stephen Bossu, co-founder of Hopewell Brewing, and Anas Masoud, co-owner of the South Loop Market. I started by asking how this will impact their businesses.

Stephen Bossu (1:18)

So Hopewell Brewing, we're just past 10 years old, so we passed a big milestone. We make craft beer, craft beer is still growing for us, we love that, but we also started making hemp THC beverages, low dose THC beverages that we sell everywhere that craft beer is sold. It's been, since 2024, we've been growing it, and it's probably 10, 20% of our revenue. So we're not gonna shut the doors next week when this all gets banned, but it's a real problem. We're a small business, we're a small neighborhood business and we're trying to figure out what's the next step forward.

We would love some sensible rules of the road, but instead we're gonna hand down a full ban on what we think is a real reasonable beverage to offer our customers.

SPEAKER_2 (2:03)

What do you think some sensible rules of the road could be? What points of the argument from people who moved to ban this type of product resonate with you?

Stephen Bossu (2:13)

Absolutely. So I don't think we need to reinvent the wheel here. We sell craft beer already. We know how to get a beverage to only 21 plus. We know how to get a beverage to the right retail shelves that have a license, so like South Loop Market.

These shouldn't be sold on the street to kids.

Those kind of things are obvious. So it's really a low lift to be able to say, hey, let's get these into the right hands. And we already have a system in place, a three tier alcohol system. So we don't need to restart and relook at this. This is an easy thing to say, hey, these are the same customers that come to Hopewell Brewing for beer, for any other beverage, non-alcoholic, that we're selling, but also for a low dose THC beverage. So these customers already exist, so banning it, it's really, to us, it looks like we're getting punished for being a good actor and already doing the right thing. And we think it's only gonna embolden the bad actors when really sensible rules, regulations, I think would actually do good in Illinois and help people.

SPEAKER_2 (3:20)

Anas, jump in here. How does your business carry these products? What type of products do you carry?

Anas Masoud (3:25)

Well, just like he said, well, we're a neighborhood bodega, so we carry produce and groceries and all that stuff, but we do have our 21 and over section, and we follow the rules, just like everyone else. We have liquor, wine, spirits, and of course these THC infused drinks, and you know, they're in the 21 and over section, everybody gets ID'd, there's legislation, we know how to follow the rules.

As again, Stephen said, like you don't have to reinvent the wheel, like everything is going the way it should be. And right now at South Loop Market in Logan Square, it's about 20% of our sales. A lot of the customers that we would see would normally buy alcohol or whatnot have switched over to this because it's a much better alternative than sometimes drinking a beer before they go to bed or a cocktail or something. This is for them. It's something that they can use to wind down and it's a better option.

SPEAKER_2 (4:19)

Yeah, Stephen, do you talk to customers about why they like THC beverages?

Stephen Bossu (4:23)

Oh, 100%.

And it's really interesting, and I'm absolutely one of these customers, right? Is I make beer for a living. I love making craft beer, right? But I don't always want to drink craft beer. Sometimes I drink wine. I drink coffee, tea, all the beverages. And having THC beverage, a low-dose THC beverage, is just a really natural part of that ecosystem. So our customers, it's not all, hey, I don't drink anymore, or I'm not drinking this week, or I'm not drinking this month. Sometimes it's, hey, I had a drink, and I don't want to drink more. I'm going to just have a low-dose THC. Or hey, I'm not drinking today, and I'm looking for something more than just water. So it's kind of everyone. And it brings, for Hopewell, our whole mission is bringing more people to the table. So this fits so naturally into our reason to exist. It's just bringing more people in, right?