From Staff Reports

HENDERSONVILLE — In mid-November, the Henderson County Board of Commissioners, “reacting to a new hemp dispensary set to open across from Hendersonville High School, amended the county zoning code to bar such businesses from opening within 5,000 feet of a school,” the Hendersonville Lightning reported on Dec. 11.   

“But, because the Apotheca Cannabis Dispensary — ‘coming soon’ to 924 Asheville Highway — is in the city, the county ordinance cannot regulate it,” the Lightning added.

To rectify the situation, “The Hendersonville City Council last week Dec. 5)  took a different route, voting to ban the sale of ‘hemp-derived consumable products to people under 21 within 1,000 feet of school.

The Lightning quoted City Attorney Angela Becker as telling council, “The reason we (the city) can regulate this is because the state has not regulated it yet. Questions came up about tobacco, and the state is already regulating that. They’ve occupied the field. 

“City Council’s ability to regulate that is very limited. 

“But since there are no statutes that govern sale (of hemp products) to people under the age of 21, you have the authority under your police power to do that.” 

Among findings Beeker cited — and council adopted as part of the new law — was that “there are many hemp-derived products containing legal cannabis that can have the same psychoactive effects as marijuana,” the Lightning noted.

Further, the newspaper added that Beeker asserted, “‘It’s not required to be approved by the FDA, and so there is no quality control, or not quality control over the amount of THC that could be in a product. So it puts the public at risk... Many retail establishments’ do sell hemp products, unrestrained by any age limit or proximity to public and private schools.”

An unidentified employee at Apotheca’s Arden store said the company does not sell to anyone under age 21.

“We do not sell to minors at all,” the Lightning quoted the employee (who would only be identified as the ‘customer service line’) as telling council. “That’s against government policy and state law, as well. We do have age-required products in our locations and we do have an ID process. You have to have a valid form of ID for anything we do sell that is in age-compliant regulation.”

The new city ordinance making it a misdemeanor criminal offense to sell hemp products to minors requires a second reading, the Lightning noted, so it could not go into effect any sooner than council’s Jan. 2 meeting.

“Are we dilineating the difference between hemp and CBD, because CBD doesn’t actually have the psychoactive ingredients — are we differentiating that at all?” Councilwoman Jennifer Hensley asked Beeker.

“This does not,” the Lightning quoted the city attorney as replying. “It just means that they can’t but it near a school.”