In Case You Noticed, WYNK Is Gone. Here's Who It Leaves Out.

Written by 2Bears Tavern Group
In case you noticed, WYNK is gone. Here's who it leaves out, and three calls that can help. 2Bears Tavern Group.

Bartenders learn orders before they learn names. Across our six bars, for a while now, a lot of those orders were a can of WYNK: Juicy Mango, Lime Twist, Black Cherry Fizz. For some guests, that can is what made a night out possible again. Some were in recovery, some were on medication and some had simply finished with alcohol, and a WYNK let them pull up a stool, join the conversation and feel like part of the community again, without having to explain what was in their glass.

On Nov 12, we had to pull every can. If you noticed the gap in the cooler, that's why, and it wasn't our call.

What changed on Nov 12

The change comes from Senate Bill 3222, the Illinois Hemp Act, which Gov. Pritzker signed on June 12. The first part took effect that day and banned sales to anyone under 21. We agree with that one, and we've always lived by it, since every one of our bars is 21 and over with a valid physical ID.

The second part arrived this week, and it goes much further. Any hemp product with more than 0.4 mg of total THC per container now counts as cannabis, which means it can only be sold at a licensed dispensary. In Chicago it also carries a cannabis tax of 22% to 37%, depending on potency. The lightest can of WYNK has 2.5 mg, more than six times the new limit.

What changed on Nov 12. 0.4 mg of total THC per container is the new Illinois limit. A timeline from the 2018 Farm Bill to June 12, Nov 12 and Dec 11.

These drinks didn't come out of nowhere. A loophole in the 2018 federal Farm Bill let hemp THC drinks spread to bars, liquor stores, grocery stores, even Target and the United Center, without the rules cannabis follows. Some guardrails were overdue. Pulling the drinks out of licensed bars entirely, the one place where an ID is already checked at the door and a trained bartender is already watching the room, is something else.

Who these drinks were for

We've always said bars should be more than places to drink. For a lot of our guests, these drinks were how that held true. Just 54% of U.S. adults say they drink alcohol, tied for the lowest number Gallup has recorded since 1939, and plenty of the people behind that number still want a night out with their friends.

Guests have told us a low, labeled dose made a crowded room easier to walk into. For guests in recovery, on medication or done with alcohol, it meant they didn't have to sit out anymore. They came to trivia, showed up for a friend's birthday and kept their stool at the bar. They stayed part of the family.

Why our guests order them. A night out without the alcohol. Anxiety, can't drink, and nightlife.

That matters more in our rooms than most. We don't run six copies of the same bar. Each one was built for a community that doesn't always get a room of its own: bears, cubs and the people who love them at The SoFo Tap, leatherfolk, gear and fetish at Jackhammer and The Hole downstairs, game night regulars upstairs at Meeting House, the martini and conversation crowd at Marty's, and late night Uptown at 2Bears Tavern Uptown. Some of our nights are built with those communities directly, like Belly Up with the chub and admirer community and VULCANIZED with Chicago Rubber Club. These are rooms made so nobody has to explain themselves at the door.

A lot of the people who walk in have been made to feel unwelcome somewhere else, sometimes in other bars, sometimes in other parts of their lives. Chicago lost roughly a third of its gay bars between 2017 and 2021, and for a lot of LGBTQIA+ people, a neighborhood bar is still where chosen family gets found. Taking away the one thing that made it easier for someone to come through our door is not a small change. Every new reason to skip a night out is one more way someone drifts from the people who look out for them.

It reaches well past our six bars

We aren't the only ones feeling this. The Chicago businesses that make these drinks are our neighbors too. Nearly half of what Marz Community Brewing makes in McKinley Park and Logan Square was THC seltzers like Bong Water and High Tea, and its founder has said layoffs are coming. Logan Square's Hopewell Brewing has said nearly a third of its on site sales came from its Choom THC drinks. Perfectly Dosed in Humboldt Park supplies THC ingredients to about 50 Illinois drink brands, breweries and restaurants, and says it may move some warehousing and fulfillment out of state if the rules stick.

Who it hits. It's off our menu too. WYNK, Marz Community Brewing and Hopewell Brewing.
Why dispensaries fall short. Dispensaries don't run bars. About 1% of sales, a 22% to 37% tax, lost tips and jobs.

Then there are the people behind our own bars. Every THC drink poured was another ticket with a tip on it, and that tip went to a bartender who knows your order by heart.

Some people ask why the drinks can't just move to dispensaries. Dispensaries don't run bars, and most aren't built to carry drinks either. Infused drinks make up about 1% of dispensary sales, many large dispensary chains grow and sell their own brands, and brewers say shelf space is tight. A can that used to sit in our cooler next to the beer now means a cannabis tax, a trip across town and a night spent somewhere other than with your friends.

Where it stands right now

The law is being challenged in court. On Nov 5, the Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association, a trade group for about 250 hemp businesses, sued in federal court in Chicago to block it. The state agreed not to enforce the law against the businesses suing and the association's members until U.S. District Judge Martha Pacold hears arguments on Thursday, Nov 19. Every bar outside that group, ours included, had to stop selling on Nov 12. Separately, the main federal limit on hemp THC takes effect nationwide on Dec 11 unless Congress acts first.

The fight in court. A judge hears it next week. Thursday, Nov 19.

What we're asking for

Our ask is simple. Regulate hemp THC drinks like alcohol, and let licensed bars keep selling them. Check ID at the door, 21 and over, always. Require clear labels and real dose limits. Train bartenders to know when to cut someone off.

We already do every one of those things, every night, in all six of our rooms. What we need now is an amendment to the Illinois Hemp Act, or a follow up bill, that gives licensed bars a way to keep serving these drinks responsibly.

Regulate it. Don't ban it. Treat hemp THC drinks like alcohol, and let licensed bars sell them. We already do this every night.

Make the call

This is the part where our community has always shown up for each other. Three calls take a few minutes.

If you live somewhere else, you can find your own state senator at illinoispolicy.org/maps/illinois-senate and your state rep at illinoispolicy.org/maps/illinois-house.

Not sure what to say? Try this"Hi, my name is [your name] and I live in [your neighborhood]. Senate Bill 3222, the Illinois Hemp Act, pulled hemp THC drinks out of licensed bars on Nov 12. Please support an amendment that lets licensed bars sell them with ID checks, clear labels and real dose limits, like alcohol."

Call 1 of 3. Call Governor Pritzker's office at 312 814 2121, with a script of what to say.
Calls 2 and 3. Call your senator and rep: State Sen. Mike Simmons, State Rep. Kelly Cassidy and State Rep. Hoan Huynh.
Make the call. We'll save you a seat. Jackhammer, The Hole, Meeting House Tavern, Marty's Martini Bar, The SoFo Tap and 2Bears Tavern Uptown.

Jackhammer, The Hole, Meeting House Tavern, Marty's Martini Bar, The SoFo Tap and 2Bears Tavern Uptown are LGBTQIA+ owned. Every one is 21 and over with a valid physical ID.

Sources

2Bears Tavern Group
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