Legal Delta 8 products

Delta-8 THC is a new cannabinoid that is on the market and is being used to test the legal limits of cannabinoids made from hemp.

 

delta-8 THC

 

Delta-8 THC is a new cannabinoid that has shown up on the scene. THC, yes. The cannabinoid is found in small amounts in hemp, but it can also be made from cannabidiol (CBD) or delta-9 THC, which is the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. Delta-8 THC, unlike CBD, does make people feel high, though not as much as delta-9 THC. A legal Delta-8 THC can be found in tinctures, function drinks, vapes, and gummies, among other things.

Delta-8 THC products have become more popular because there is too much hemp on the market. This has caused CBD prices to drop, and farmers and extractors have started making delta-8 THC to use up the extra hemp and make their money back. Like with CBD, the 2018 Farm Bill has made it easy for companies to make and sell products with delta-8 THC, says Felicia Leborgne Nowels, a partner at the law firm Akerman who works on government affairs and public policy.

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) no longer has control over hemp because of the 2018 Farm Bill. Instead, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is in charge of growing and harvesting the plant. In particular, the Farm Bill made a difference between hemp and marijuana. It said that hemp was any part of the Cannabis sativa L. plant, including the seeds, derivatives, and extracts, as long as the amount of delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) did not exceed 0.3 percent by dry weight. Delta-8 THC didn't have any limits or limits were never put on it.

 

"The problem we're having now is that the DEA put out an interim final rule in the fall of 2020. In that interim final rule, they said that THC that was made in a lab would still be on the schedule and be a controlled substance, says Nowels. "There is confusion because delta-8 THC comes from hemp, so it shouldn't be scheduled because it's not under the DEA's control. However, what does it mean to be "synthetically derived"?

In particular, the interim final rule says, "The AIA [Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018] does not change the control status of synthetically derived tetrahydrocannabinols (for Controlled Substance Code Number 7370) because the statutory definition of "hemp" is limited to materials that come from the plant Cannabis sativa L. When it comes to tetrahydrocannabinols made in a lab, the amount of 9-THC does not affect whether or not the material is a controlled substance. All tetrahydrocannabinols made in a lab are still controlled substances on Schedule I.

Since the DEA doesn't give a clear definition for tetrahydrocannabinols that are made in a lab, there is room for interpretation. Since hemp is no longer a controlled substance, supporters would argue that delta-8 THC made from hemp is also not a controlled substance. Right now, the FDA hasn't done anything to stop the sale of delta-8 THC products, but that doesn't mean it won't do so soon. Delta-8 THC, on the other hand, hasn't been looked into as a new drug, so it doesn't fall under the FDA's drug exclusion rule. But it hasn't gone through any pre-market regulations, like a new dietary ingredient notification.

“As for whether or not the FDA will talk about delta-8 vs. delta-9 THC, I think that will be looked at as a whole. Nowels says, "I don't think the FDA will just look at delta-8 by itself." States are making their own decisions. Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, Rhode Island, and Utah are the 11 states that have a total ban on delta-8 THC. State officials in Kentucky and Vermont have also made it clear that delta-8 THC is a controlled substance in their states. Illinois, North Dakota, and Oregon are thinking about making it illegal to sell delta-8 THC, and the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board has temporarily banned synthetic hemp ingredients.

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA; Silver Spring, MD) recently put out a new policy to discourage "the marketing of goods for consumption by any route" that contain synthesized cannabinoids like delta-8 THC or artificial cannabinoids. This is because there isn't a clear set of rules and the rules vary from state to state, and delta-8 THC products may make people feel high. Synthesized cannabinoids are made in a lab or by an industry using directed synthetic or biosynthetic chemistry instead of traditional food preparation methods like heating or extracting. This definition only talks about how they were made, so they could be natural or made in a lab.

 

"Artificial cannabinoids" are defined by the AHPA as "any cannabimimetic compound that interacts with cannabinoid receptors but does not occur in nature in its molecular structure." The business of making products from hemp is not slowing down. CBD and delta-8 THC are just two of the cannabinoids found in hemp. Many of them, like CBG and CBC, are already on the market. Even though the FDA hasn't changed its mind about CBD and is still looking into the market, the current market needs more serious action to protect consumer safety. Laws could be the answer, but Congress is stuck in a stalemate that makes it hard to pass laws quickly. In the meantime, demand grows, the industry grows, and regulators stay a few steps behind.