It is illegal to produce or consume marijuana in Wisconsin, but thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill, it's legal to create and consume products made from hemp, a variety of cannabis plant.
For the first few years after the bill became law, many hemp producers created products with the cannabidiol (CBD) compound, then moved on to others: first delta-8, then delta-9 THC, which is the psychoactive component of marijuana.
The market is unregulated, however, and seen as a gray area in the law. Some doctors and researchers are concerned about possible adverse health effects from the unregulated products, and the FDA said it has received hundreds of reports of adverse events related to delta-8 products.
Still, many Wisconsin producers have jumped into making products with hemp-derived delta-9. In trend this year are hemp-derived beverages, with Canni creating Milwaukee's first bar where CBD and THC infusions are the norm, more local cocktail bars like Sugar Maple and Shanghai offering drinks with THC, and many hemp shops and breweries creating canned THC seltzers.
Though the drinks are growing in popularity, it's still challenging to get THC-derived drinks into retail outlets. But many local hemp shops and breweries are paving the way to get the newer product to market.
Some producers rely on self-distribution to get THC products to retail
Kind Oasis, 2169 N. Farwell Ave., is one of the Milwaukee pioneers in the hemp-derived market. It has years of experience with edible CBD and THC products and came out with a prototype of its seltzer in June 2023 and its current version in October.
"We've been doing the CBD and THC distillation and gummy production for four years now. We've been at the forefront of both the health and wellness portion of it, and I also think the recreation part of it as well," said Grant Steskal, event and retail coordinator at Kind Oasis.
Medical cannabis has possible benefits for several conditions including chemotherapy-induced nausea, chronic pain and more, according to various medical studies, but Steskal said THC drinks are usually associated with recreational use.
"That's where I think the beverages kind of tie into the whole mission, it makes it more socially acceptable to consume THC out in the world, as well as in the comfort of your own home. They also are a really, really huge help for people when they're trying to not drink," Steskal said.
He said he is "California sober" and has not had alcohol in almost two years, but he does continue to consume THC.
"I am very much proof of this, and it's a passion project for me as well," Steskal said. "Now it's like, how do we get this into Wisconsinites' hands?"
Getting the drinks to retail can be difficult. Some distributors and retailers are not willing to carry THC products, leaving many producers tasked with self distribution.
"We've been able to successfully get about 25 accounts wholesale," Steskal said. "It's me driving around with cases of seltzer in the back of my Prius."
THC drinks becoming more popular on retail shelves
Eagle Park Brewing Co., meanwhile, has recently found success with distributing its Alto seltzer, made with hemp-derived delta-9 and CBD. On April 9 the brewery announced its distributor would make the seltzer available to all of its retail partners, making Eagle Park the first Milwaukee brewery to distribute a THC beverage at this scale.
"It's been six months in the making for us to navigate interest from retailers. It's been a slow process of talking and moving through it, but now our retailers are on board and our distributor, so we have the green light," said Max Borgardt, co-owner of Eagle Park.
"We had to work with our distributor on how to navigate this, and we were one of the main forces to make it happen," Borgardt said. "Our beer distributors sell beer. They didn't want to jump into it without having the full outlook and being prepared.
Eagle Park released its first Alto variety in September 2023, and it has been available to-go in its taprooms at 823 E. Hamilton St. and S64 W15640 Commerce Center Parkway, Muskego, since then.
Borgardt did not want to say which retailers were picking up Alto until they had it on the shelf, which should happen mid-to-late April, though he did confirm Ray's Wine & Spirits, 8930 W. North Ave, Wauwatosa, was planning to shelf it.
The locally-owned liquor store has carried hemp-derived CBD and THC drinks since 2022.
"They have increased in popularity pretty rapidly in the last six months," said Lucas Kasal, Ray's assistant beer director. "We're moving through a pretty reasonable amount in short periods of time."
He said Kind Oasis' seltzer, which the store also carries, doubled in sales in January alone compared to the previous quarter, which Kasal attributed to the increasing popularity of Dry January, when people abstain from drinking alcohol.
"People are looking for alternatives," he said. "A lot of those seltzers, there's a huge demand for. Beer sales have slightly decreased, but seltzers only increase in popularity. It won't slow down."
The liquor store was initially hesitant, however, to take on THC products.
"Once we fully understood what we were getting involved in, it was very well received," he said. "I think at this point, right now, we are carrying the demand. It's not like inventory is sitting on the shelf. We move through it pretty regularly. It's meeting the demand pretty evenly."
He said that self-distribution isn't an issue for them in getting products, and it works well for local brands like the THC seltzers the store gets from Kind Oasis and 1840 Brewing. But to get products from elsewhere in the state, they depend on Pequod, a distribution company in Waunakee.
Many hesitant to jump into hemp-derived market
Pequod was started by the owners of Madison's Untitled Art, which has a sister company, Green Canvas, that has been producing THC and CBD drinks for two years. While that might make it a young company in the craft drink market, it makes it a veteran in Wisconsin in the hemp-derived drink space.
"Sales have been steadily growing," said Levi Funk, co-founder of Untitled Art.
Even though they have a supportive distributor, Green Canvas still runs into issues when it comes to retailers and payment platforms.
"With CBD you have this limitation of retailers who are going to pick it up, and THC goes beyond that. There are distributors who take our CBD product but are hesitant to pick up THC," Funk said. "Your insurance company might view this differently, or their lawyer says don't pursue it at this time. But every month, every quarter, people are educated more.
"When they see their competitor has picked it up, that's when they think, let's get a little more serious about this. It's the same thing we saw with CBD," he said.
As a brewing pioneer in the THC space, Funk said it's an important part of their portfolio as alcohol consumption decreases.
"I think that there is an overall trend, especially among younger consumers, that they want to reduce the amount of alcohol consumption, where they might consume a THC gummy or beverage instead. That is a very common story," Funk said.
Even though Green Canvas was a pioneer in the hemp-derived drink market in Wisconsin, Untitled Art did not jump in immediately after the Farm Bill passed in 2018. Funk said that when the Farm Bill was reauthorized in 2021 with regulations for the production of hemp, that's when the flood gates opened not only for them but also other companies.
"In that interim period, the Farm Bill said it was legal, but no one wanted to touch delta-9," Funk said.
Still, laws can change at anytime. It wasn't until recently that Green Canvas felt comfortable doing things like ordering pre-printed cans and building more permanent infrastructure for their hemp-derived products.
"It's like, do we want to pre-print cans and spend $100,000 if two weeks from now someone changes the rules? That had been a conversation we had three years ago. Now, we're comfortable with this risk ratio," Funk said. "The tea leaves say we're going towards legalization. People in Wisconsin should be addressing and asking, if we keep this hurdle and every single state around us is legal, what are we doing?"
In a 'really chaotic' industry, safety is key
Rob Pero agrees that Wisconsin should legalize marijuana.
Pero owns Canndigenous, a Native American-owned cannabis brand, and Ripley Green hemp shop, 226 W. Main St., Cambridge. He also co-founded Indigenous Business Group which helps Native business owners navigate owning a small business with an emphasis in helping those who want to open a hemp- or marijuana-based business.
He said that Native nations can legalize marijuana, but leaders are hesitant to do so out of concern of how it could be policed outside of reservations. For that reason, he wants Wisconsin to legalize marijuana and to have laws around hemp-derived products.
"It's really chaotic, the industry, in a state like Wisconsin where we're trying to figure out a way to have some due diligence in a regulatory way," Pero said. "We see low-dose hemp derivatives as a medicine, and there's a lot of good work that is happening from people who are in the hemp-derived cannabinoid market to protect it. And there are some bad apples like where you can get high doses."
He said to be suspicious of any high-dose products. Various people interviewed for this article said that 3- to 5-milligram products were good for beginners, and more experienced THC consumers could start with products that have 10 milligrams of THC.
He said it made sense for Indigenous groups to be leaders in the cannabis industry, specifically safety.
"This is a plant medicine that has its own cultural significance with some nations. From just a medicinal aspect, we know our communities need it, and as an economic instigator, our communities could lean into the industry," Pero said. "The Indigenous community can lead the way on this, and making sure the products are the safest is how we plan to lead it."
Pero recently came out with two seltzer products: Uptempo, with 5 milligrams of CBD; and Downtempo, with 5 milligrams of CBN, a hemp derivative that is thought to help with sleep.
Canndigenous released the seltzers in March and have sold their first test batch of 1,000 cans. It is in shops — many on reservations — in New York, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, California and Wisconsin.
"It’s a cool spot to be in," Pero said. "We're not sure how big and beautiful this market is going to be and making sure that we approach it responsibly is key."
One way to approach it responsibly, Pero and other said, is for customers to buy from places that have lab test results of their products easily and readily available.
“Most distributors and retailers are requiring that your product has a COA (certificate of analysis),” Funk with Green Canvas said. “If they don’t have the COA available, they’re not worth it."
The analysis is done by an independent lab to assess that the amounts of cannabanoids are in the range that they are advertised for the product, and that there are not other harmful materials in the products.
Here's where you can find certificates of analysis for products mentioned in this article:
There are also QR codes on these products that lead directly to its COA page.
People in the industry also encourage customers to avoid THC products at places like gas stations. Steskal said beginners should purchase from established hemp shops like Kind Oasis; Canni, 810 S. 5th St.; or Kelly’s Greens, 8932 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa.
"When we have a city with places like Kind Oasis and Canni, you start squeezing those bad actors out,” Steskal with Kind Oasis said. “You gain a community’s trust when they come in and we go, ‘Let me ask you a couple questions about what you’re looking for.’
"It’s a different experience and we will naturally rise to the top when we take the time to educate people," he said. "It’s going to be great in the long run if we can interact with people in the right way.”
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