Illinois – The Great THC Selloff “Time Is Running Out For THC Beverages In Illinois, And Breweries Are Selling Them Fast”

Now’s a good time to find deals in Chicago as breweries unload their supply ahead of a state law taking effect Nov. 12 banning the sale of THC drinks outside of dispensaries.

CHICAGO — Now might be the best time to stock up on hemp-derived THC beverages in Chicago.

They’re being sold buy-one-get-one at Logan Square’s Hopewell Brewing Company and Revolution Brewing in Avondale. Binny’s is running sales on virtually every THC beverage on its shelves. And brewers have ceased production — perhaps for good.

This is what the final days look like before a Illinois state law takes effect that producers of the hemp-derived drinks fear will end the fledging industry while hurting the breweries that turned to them to help prop up their business.

Since 2020, when Illinois legalized cannabis, the market for hemp-derived THC drinks has grown, with Chicago craft breweries getting in on the trend to gain new customers and boost lagging sales. Instead of needing to shop at a dispensary, customers could buy these drinks as easily as they could a six-pack of beer.

But under a new state law taking effect Nov. 12, all THC drinks must be sold only in licensed dispensaries.

The law — which effectively treats hemp-derived THC the same as cannabis — comes as a federal ban on hemp-derived THC drinks is set to start in December.

Taken together, some Chicago brewers said, it will deal a fatal blow to the THC beverage market.

“It will completely eliminate the THC beverage category, which many consumers have safely integrated into their routines,” said Jonathan Fritz, co-founder of Hopewell Brewing Co., where THC drinks made up 20-25 percent of Hopewell’s business. “It also creates major disruption for those who have been responsibly producing and selling these products while advocating for regulation over prohibition. Our state legislators have failed us on this issue, and this decision will directly impact our business and many others.”

“We are prepared for it to be over,” said Ed Marszewski, co-owner of Marz Community Brewing Co., an early adopter of CBD and THC drinks. “There’s no market for our beverages in the dispensaries. We’ve tried, but it doesn’t work.”

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Time Is Running Out For THC Beverages In Illinois, And Breweries Are Selling Them Fast