BAMCO

THC beverages are increasingly popular with consumers and expanding into mainstream retail. Now the political implications are showing up too: 45% of South Carolina voters penalize candidates who support a hemp ban. Lawmakers should read the tea leaves carefully ahead of the November hemp deadline. BAMCO: beverage only.

A toast to common sense: licensed retail, responsible enjoyment, and adults being trusted to make adult choices. We believe low-dose hemp beverages can fit responsibly alongside other adult beverages within that same system. Follow BAMCO if you agree 🥂

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Gotta hand it to BAMCO, they tweet about Weed Drinks even more than I do

A few months ago, nobody outside policy circles was talking about hemp-derived THC beverage regulation. Now: • Target is selling them • polling is moving • lawmakers are debating them • and people are memeing BAMCO Things escalated quickly.

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@cantripguy word word. BAMCO WIZEEWA it's some comic book onomatopoeia-type stuff BAM KAPOW

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@cantripguy also "BAMCO" is just really fun to say.

@cantripguy Folks, give BAMCO a follow. We’d appreciate your help.

A category feels very different politically once consumers begin treating it as ordinary. That transition is happening now with hemp-derived THC beverages as they move deeper into mainstream retail.

A difficult reality in the hemp debate: THC beverages are already legal, already on shelves, and already being enjoyed by adults. That makes ‘taking them away’ a very different political and policy question than preventing a category from emerging in the first place.

BAMCO represents beverage alcohol merchants operating inside licensed, regulated retail systems across the country. Our focus is straightforward: keep low-dose hemp-derived THC beverages inside accountable systems that already exist and already work.

The hemp debate is becoming more complicated because the category matured faster than the policy framework around it. By the time federal hemp law changes in November, hemp-derived THC beverages will already be deeply established in the market.

Most regulatory frameworks are built before categories become mainstream. With hemp-derived THC beverages, lawmakers are trying to finalize the rules after consumer demand and retail expansion already accelerated.

@BAMCOpolicy Thank you @BAMCOpolicy ... glad to have you with us in this fight.

One thing policymakers are increasingly confronting: Once products move into mainstream retail, the policy debate shifts from “whether” to “how.” That’s where hemp-derived THC beverages are now.

Lawmakers are heading toward a federal hemp deadline in November at the exact moment hemp-derived THC beverages are moving further into mainstream retail, including Target. That tension is becoming harder to ignore.

The practical policy challenge isn’t just “what should happen?” It’s: what can realistically be enacted before the federal hemp deadline in November using systems that already exist?

As the federal hemp deadline approaches in November, policymakers are running into a basic reality: The narrower and more clearly defined a framework is, the easier it is to implement and enforce.

The smartest policy solutions usually build on systems that already work. The three-tier alcohol system was designed around traceability, licensing, and accountability — and BAMCO’s members have decades of experience operating inside it responsibly. That’s why BAMCO supports a beverage-only hemp framework regulated like alcohol.

One reason the three-tier system has lasted so long: accountability. Licensed producers, distributors, and retailers each have defined responsibilities, clear oversight, and established enforcement mechanisms. BAMCO’s members already operate successfully inside that system and believe low-dose hemp-derived THC beverages can be handled there responsibly as well.