SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – New state regulations on who can and cannot sell intoxicating hemp have put a downtown Springfield retailer out of business. The new law restricts sales of products containing more than 0.4 mg of THC to cannabis dispensaries. That wipes out virtually the entire inventory of Prairie State Hemp.

“I know Happy Daze and some other stores have been posting on social media and voicing their displeasure,” Springfield Business Journal executive editor Michelle Ownbey told the WTAX Morning Newswatch, “but in those cases, they are doing more than just CBD’s.”

While the stated reason is to keep the more potent products away from kids, “you’ve got these dispensaries that pay massive amounts of money to the state to get a license,” Ownbey continued, “and they don’t necessarily want the competition. It’s a very complicated and expensive process to get one of those state licenses.”

Prairie State Hemp closed Wednesday. The new state law took effect Thursday.