The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission lists 27 licensed cannabis dispensaries in Bend that can sell you a can of cannabis-infused beverages ranging from 25 to 100 milligrams of THC. But if you want something far less potent but purportedly way more social, you can already find low-dose, hemp-derived THC-infused beverages around town. Tiptoeing in at 2 mg per serving, they're designed, essentially, to be both an alternative to beer or wine but also to be treated like them, since a couple servings are said to provide a heady buzz in the manner of a couple brewskis, minus the hangover or any ill effects of alcohol.
Call it supporting local farmers and artisanal agriculture, call it part of the backlash to alcohol consumption or call it a loophole, but three Bend beverage makers have noticed that the 2018 federal Farm Bill, specifically Title X addressing horticulture, spells out that hemp products are a go and, notably, that products containing 0.3% by dry-weight volume are legal to produce, distribute, sell and even consume in public. Don't think of that figure as anything resembling 0.3% alcohol by weight or volume or even 3% for that matter.
Bend entrepreneur Max Bendis, who co-founded the CBD-infused beverage company Ablis with his father, Jim Bendis, credits the Farm Bill with allowing the father-son drinks company to take things higher with THC, but admits the language spelling it all out is "confusing." He adds, "That's what lawyers are for."
Jim Bendis founded Bendistillery, makers of Crater Lake Spirits, in 1996. Along with his son, they launched Ablis in 2014 (with sales beginning in 2016). The THC line of canned RTDs (ready-to-drink) go under the brand name Ascend and are just hitting shelves now, but the Bendises started plotting this brand extension circa 2022. Adds the younger Bendis, "Hemp and cannabis are cousins. Like hops. They're closely related but they're not the same. You can extract much higher doses of THC from cannabis, whereas hemp has more agricultural uses." The Oregon Department of Agriculture allows for hemp-derived THC but not synthetic cannabinoids, meaning it truly does grow on farms.
"Good," remarks Bendis. "We don't want to use (synthetic stuff) anyway."
Another Bend-based beverage brand, Altitude, has been vending CBD canned drinks, from cold brew coffees to energy drinks to mocktails, since 2020. Co-founder Thomas Angel says now that they can start selling THC-infused drinks, they're going to discontinue the CBD line altogether. Unlike the CBD ones, which could be sold to anyone over 18, now they can only be sold to those who are 21 and up. That's not simply Altitude's policy; it's the law.
Additionally, no CBD or THC products can have alcohol, although Ascend, Altitude and another new brand called Shift are already available at select bars around Bend. Despite cannabis being verboten at bars, hemp-derived THC slips and slides through the loophole.
"THC should be treated like alcohol," explains Angel. "It also has the ability to impair (your motor skills) and decision-making."
This trio of brands poured samples at Silver Moon Brewery's second annual BevFest in May. Anecdotal responses generally suggested these low-dose THC servings are "just the right amount" of buzz.
And in this era of burgeoning mocktails and "functional beverages," Ascend is billed as a "functail." The first flavor, Wildberry Rose, contains 4 milligrams of THC. Yes, the legal limit is 2 milligrams, but each 12-ounce can bills itself as two servings! It also features 20 mg of CBD, 100 mg of caffeine (from guarana), 100 mg of L-Theanine and 150 mg of Ashwagandha.
"We can't make any health claims at all," admits Bendis. "Do your own research."
As for research about THC's effects, Angel notes that because marijuana is still a Schedule 1 controlled substance, federally, this kind of research hasn't been conducted, but he and the rest of the industry are hopeful about the future. In fact, Bendis notes that he, Angel and Shift's Ryan Evans have an "alliance." They work together and hang out, sometimes actually drinking beer, sometimes non-alcoholic beverages.
Angel points out that a reported 70% of dispensary sales are flower, whole-leaf bud, which is why these low-dose THC beverages are better suited to being sold from mainstream retailers instead of dispensaries. "I don't even consider myself a THC consumer. I'm cannabis curious."
