Hemp & Alcohol: Liquor Store Retail Sales Agents

Liquor store retail sales agents are appointed by the Commission to operate a liquor store in Oregon.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

Liquor store retail sales agents are prohibited from selling any alcoholic beverages that contain CBD or THC. This prohibition includes CBD or THC from any source, including hemp.

The OLCC prohibits storing or distributing an alcoholic beverage that contains any hemp or hemp-derived ingredient (such as CBD or THC) or other cannabinoids from any source without approval from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).

Currently the TTB is not approving any formulas that contain CBD or THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. Read the TTB guidance here. Contact the TTB’s Alcohol Labeling and Formulation Division at 202-453-2250 for more information or visit the TTB website.

Some hemp ingredients that do not contain cannabinoids might be allowed in alcoholic beverages, subject to TTB approval.

NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND PRODUCTS

OLCC rules do not prohibit a retail sales agent from also selling non-alcoholic beverages containing hemp-derived ingredients, including hemp beverages that contain THC or CBD. However, businesses selling hemp beverages must comply with all Oregon laws and rules, including those summarized below.

In Oregon, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) and OLCC jointly regulate cannabinoid hemp products, including beverages. This document summarizes the major OLCC and ODA regulations.

There may be other federal or state agencies regulating these products. This document only covers OLCC and ODA hemp regulations in Oregon.

ODA HEMP LICENSE REQUIRED

Selling hemp items in Oregon generally requires a Hemp Vendor license from ODA. For details, see the ODA Hemp Program website: https://oda.direct/hemp

See OAR Chapter 603 Division 48 for ODA’s hemp rules.

COMPLIANCE TESTING REQUIREMENTS

Any hemp beverage sold to consumers in Oregon must undergo compliance testing before being sold, and the retailer selling the item must have a copy of these compliance test results. If the retailer does not have a copy of the test results, the item cannot be sold.

Note that a manufacturer testing a single sample, or self-selecting samples for testing, does not meet Oregon’s compliance testing requirements.

PRODUCT REGISTRATION AND LABELING

Cannabinoid hemp products must be registered with OLCC in order to be sold to consumers in Oregon. The registration includes labeling the product in compliance with OLCC rules. Registration applications are generally submitted by the business responsible for labeling. For details, see our Hemp Registry Guide.

Retailers must confirm that a product is registered prior to selling that product. Selling an unregistered hemp item to a consumer in this state or to a retailer for the purpose of sale to a consumer in this state is a violation of OAR 845-026-6105 and could result in civil penalties.

Agents can check whether a hemp item is registered using OLCC’s hemp product search. It includes photos of the registered labels for comparison. The easiest way to search for a registration is by the label ID. All registered products are required to have a label ID; typically this is printed on the label, though a label can instead have the label ID accessible through a QR code. If there is no label ID either on the label or through a link or QR code, the product is not registered.

Note that topical-only products (like CBD balms and salves) and hemp grain and fiber products without added cannabinoids (like hemp milk or hemp hearts) are exempt from the registration requirement.

AGE RESTRICTIONS

Certain cannabinoid hemp products cannot be sold to a minor under 21 years of age. A product can only be sold to a minor if:

It contains less than 0.5 mg total THC in the entire unit of sale;
The compliance testing was sensitive enough to demonstrate that the product contains less than 0.5 mg total THC; and
The product doesn't contain any artificially derived cannabinoids (like delta-8-THC made synthetically from CBD)

If a product contains more than 0.5 mg THC or other intoxicating cannabinoids, or if the testing was not sensitive enough to show that it does not exceed 0.5 mg of THC, or the product contains any artificially derived cannabinoids, it cannot be sold to minors. See OAR 845-026-0300 for details.

LIMITS ON THC AND OTHER CANNABINOIDS

There are also limits on the amount of THC that can be present in cannabinoid products sold to adults. In addition to the 0.3% limit on total THC:

Hemp edibles, including beverages, are limited to 2 mg total THC per serving and 20 mg total THC per “container” (generally equivalent to a unit of sale).
A full list of THC limits can be found in Table 3 of OAR 845-026-0400 and OAR 845-026-0410 or in our Hemp Testing and Potency Quick Reference Guide.

Products that exceed these limits by more than 10% cannot be sold to Oregon consumers.

Products are generally prohibited from containing any artificially derived cannabinoids. At this time, none have received approval under OAR 845-026-0415. THC created by chemical conversion from CBD is prohibited for use in products sold to Oregon consumers.

BOTTLE BILL

Canned or bottle hemp beverages in Oregon must comply with Oregon bottle bill requirements.

MARIJUANA

Agents should also be aware of prohibitions regarding marijuana.

Marijuana and all marijuana derivatives are prohibited from being used or sold in a liquor store. Any and all products derived from marijuana, including CBD derived from marijuana, are strictly prohibited from being used, sold, or stored in a retail liquor store, even if the item does not contain alcohol. Additionally, retail sales agents must not permit any person to use, consume, ingest, or inhale any marijuana item in a retail liquor store. Permitting these activities may result in the OLCC taking action against a retail sales agent’s agreement.