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Steven Schain
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Tag: Delta-8 THC
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Rogue Intoxicants and the Cannabis Beverage Explosion – Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news
Rogue Intoxicants and the Cannabis Beverage Explosion – Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news
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Doctors Join Call To Regulate Intoxicating Hemp Cannabinoids | High Times
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A professional organization of physicians who support drug policy reform is calling for the regulation of intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids including delta-8 THC, arguing that the safety of products containing the compound is unknown. The recommendation was recently made by Doctors for Drug Policy Reform (D4DPR), a group of healthcare professionals formerly known as Doctors for Cannabis Regulation.
“Our stance at D4DPR is that all intoxicating cannabinoids should be subject to a regulatory framework to ensure public safety,” the group wrote in a policy paper released this month.
In the paper, D4DPR notes that the legalization of hemp with the 2018 Farm Bill “may have inadvertently legalized the chemical conversion of hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) and other phytocannabinoids (those derived directly from the plant) into intoxicating minor cannabinoids like delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (∆8-THC, also known as delta-8).” The legislation, however, did not include provisions to regulate hemp-derived cannabinoids, leading to a thriving industry of products containing intoxicating compounds that is unregulated in many jurisdictions.
“Taking advantage of this opportunity, ∆8-THC (chemically synthesized from hemp CBD) quickly became available in various retail outlets such as gas stations, CBD shops, convenience stores, smoke shops, and online platforms,” the group notes in the paper. “Several states have now either banned or imposed regulations on its sale. However, in 22 states (as of November 2023), ∆8-THC remains legal and unregulated, with limited laboratory testing and taxation, lacking warnings about its intoxicating effects, without dosing limits, and easily accessible to minors.”
To address the issue, D4DPR called on policymakers to develop and enact a regulatory framework for all intoxicating cannabinoids, regardless of their source. The group included several recommendations for the regulations, including a provision that would only allow the sale of intoxicating compounds by licensed dispensaries. The group also called for “appropriate taxation” to fund public health initiatives and regulatory oversight of the cannabinoid market.
The group also recommended that sales of intoxicating cannabinoids be restricted to adults aged 21 and older. The recommendations call for intoxicating hemp products to be sold only in child-resistant packaging that does not appeal to minors, with clear labeling about the intoxicating effects of the product. Packages should also include the International Intoxication Cannabinoid Product Symbol (the silhouette of a cannabis leaf) to indicate their contents in graphic form.
The recommendations also call for required lab testing of intoxicating cannabinoid products for purity, potency and safety, with certificates of analysis available to consumers for inspection. The group also recommended that research into the clinical safety and toxicology of minor cannabinoids be conducted, noting that many of the compounds are new to the market
D4DPR also recommended that regulations for intoxicating cannabinoids be aligned with those in place in states with medical marijuana or adult-use cannabis programs and that states without regulations develop them as soon as possible. The group also called for the rescheduling of cannabis at the federal level, noting that a ban on intoxicating or minor cannabinoids “will result in a continuation of the drug war, leading to negative outcomes on public health.”
“This policy stance reflects our commitment to safeguarding public health while ensuring reasonable access to cannabis- and hemp-derived products within a responsible regulatory framework,” the D4DPR concluded in its recent policy paper.
The policy paper from D4DPR joins a chorus of calls to regulate intoxicating cannabinoids. Last month, 21 state attorneys general sent a letter to congressional leaders asking them “to address the glaring vagueness created in the 2018 Farm Bill.”
“The reality is that this law has unleashed on our states a flood of products that are nothing less than a more potent form of cannabis, often in candy form that is made attractive to youth and children — with staggering levels of potency, no regulation, no oversight, and a limited capability for our offices to rein them in,” they wrote in the letter.
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A.J. Herrington
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False Dosage Labels on 96% of Tested Amazon Hemp Products, Many With No Hemp or CBD
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In the midst of blossoming cannabis and CBD reform throughout the West, hemp-derived cannabinoid products are increasingly taking center stage as legislators continue to raise red flags surrounding the lack of regulation and intoxicating potential of these products.
Just in the past several months, a number of states have moved to introduce new policies to limit or ban the sale of psychoactive hemp-derived cannabinoid products, like delta-8 THC. Similarly, many are calling out some of the issues surrounding the regulatory gaps surrounding hemp-derived products in the market.
Among them is CBD Oracle, a consumer research company aiming to improve safety and transparency surrounding cannabis products.
Most recently, it turned its attention to CBD gummies and other hemp products available for purchase on Amazon.com. While the company notes that Amazon will “tell you confidently” that they do not allow CBD gummies on the platform, CBD Oracle’s new independent analysis on such products begs to differ.
A Look at Amazon’s Approach to Hemp and CBD Products
While Amazon doesn’t technically allow CBD products, CBD Oracle suggests that sellers on the site largely get around this obstacle by avoiding the term “CBD” and instead using “hemp” on packaging and in product descriptions.
Neurogan CEO Jan Brandup said that Amazon’s “hemp products” are not related to actual hemp and rather use the term as a sales tactic.
“It’s alarming how easily consumers are deceived into trusting these products, just because they are sold on a reputable platform like Amazon,” Brandup said. “The best case is they may drain your wallet.”
Sunday Scaries CEO Mike Sill agreed, adding that many of the products on Amazon automatically lack credibility and ultimately quality due to the nature of the platform’s regulations.
“When you search for ‘CBD gummies’ on the platform, no reputable brands populate in your search results,” Sill said. “The reason for this is that credible brands like Sunday Scaries, Charlotte’s Web and cbdMD are not allowed to sell on Amazon without being banned.”
Rather, Sill said these companies engage in “brand burning,” meaning that once they are banned from Amazon, they essentially rebrand with a new name and packaging only to reupload the same products to the site and continue sales.
“Their business model doesn’t include a focus on building a reputable brand and providing the highest quality and safest products to consumers; they are just looking for a quick sale and will do whatever is necessary to stay ‘live’ on Amazon,” Sill said.
So what exactly do Amazon “hemp” products contain?
Investigating the Contents of Amazon’s ‘Hemp’ Products
In an effort to analyze the specific contents of CBD products on Amazon, the company purchased 56 of the most popular hemp products on the site and tested them through InfiniteCAL Labs. Most of the products (80%) were gummies, with eight tinctures, two topical creams and one pack of mints. A majority (89%) also made specific numerical claims regarding dosage.
Around 30% (17 of 56) of the products tested contained CBD, averaging 547 mg per package. However, there was a large variance in CBD quantity between products, with a minimum of 28 mg of CBD and a maximum of 1,582 mg. While CBD Oracle notes that this at least shows Amazon isn’t being totally dishonest about some of these products containing hemp and hemp compounds, it still violates Amazon’s policies and may not be legally compliant.
THC is also banned from Amazon sales, though six (11%) of the tested products contained the cannabinoid with the three containing the most comprised primarily of delta-8 THC. While all of the products were under the THC threshold set by the 2018 Farm Bill, the three delta-8 products “had very high quantities of THC” with 641, 2,507 and 3,028 mg per pack. The product with the highest amount of THC had 76 mg per gummy.
The majority of tested products (35 of 56 products, or 62.5%) contained no cannabinoids at all with more than a third (24 of 56 products, or 43%) containing no hemp.
InfiniteCAL Lab Manager Dr. Erik Paulson explains that hemp is typically infused into consumable products through hemp seeds, which contain no cannabinoids, or through extractable material pulled out of leaves, stems or buds — generally to create cannabinoid-infused products.
“Simply put, if you buy ‘hemp’ from Amazon it is likely that you will actually be buying an expensive jar of gummy bears. Gelatin and sugar, priced at a premium,” CBD Oracle notes in the report.
The report also confirmed that a whopping 96% of tested products did not advertise an accurate dosage.
“If we assume the dosage listing refers to cannabinoids (and not just the total mass of hempseed oil), just two products were confirmed by lab testing to have a dosage within 10% of that listed on their labels,” the report states. “They contained an average of just 25% of the advertised dosage. In most cases, this was less than advertised, but one product primarily containing delta-8 THC had twice the promised dosage.”
In addition, 52% of the products appeared to make an unapproved medical claim, and almost 95% of products did not provide Certificates of Analysis (COA), typically considered an essential for reputable companies selling hemp products.
A Growing Issue and Potential Solutions
While the report focused on Amazon products, CBD Oracle notes the prevalence of this trend, as other companies like eBay, Walmart and Alibaba carry similar products — sometimes the exact same options.
Authors note the potential ramifications of selling these products, beyond safety and health concerns, in that it could undermine the broader hemp and cannabis industries and the reform progress so many are actively pushing for.
“Amazon has demonstrated that they don’t understand the difference between hemp seed oil and hemp extract that contains cannabinoids,” said Forge Hemp’s Kelly Lombard. “As long as sellers are vague about a product’s contents, Amazon doesn’t seem to care. This is problematic because U.S. consumers need more information about hemp and CBD, not less. Amazon’s convenience and return policy may entice more consumers to try hemp products, but if their experience is negative, that hurts the industry.”
CBD Oracle also lists some potential solutions to remedy these issues, though they largely fall on Amazon to either adhere to more strict verification and COA guidelines, if not completely remove any products making false claims. They note that customers tend to have limited impact and that individual efforts to combat or report these products may ultimately result in frustration and wasted time.
Authors also cite that the current model, a blanket ban on CBD encouraging companies to be dishonest and actively work around it, may not be the answer.
“Even establishing a bare minimum requirement for hemp sellers — showing an up-to-date lab report — would be enough to send the snake oil sellers running for the hills,” the report concludes. “Will you be able to pretend that CBD isn’t available on your platform? No. But customers who are buying CBD on your platform — who already exist, like it or not — would be much, much more likely to get safe products that offer what they say on the label.”
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Keegan Williams
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Kris Mayes coming for your smoke shop vapes, gas station gummies
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Arizona law bars the sale of “diet weed” products like delta-8 THC in smoke shops and convenience stores, Attorney General Kris Mayes said.But proponents of the hemp industry say the effect of a formal legal opinion that Mayes issued Monday goes far beyond the hemp-based intoxicants and will likely also sweep up the entirety of the CBD marketplace in Arizona, barring sales of products used to improve sleep and reduce body aches and pains.
And it may prompt litigation aimed at having the courts determine exactly how Arizona’s hemp and marijuana laws ought to be enforced.
Mayes, a Democrat, concluded in her opinion that, while federal law may allow for intoxicating substances to be made from hemp derivatives, Arizona law expressly regulates how such products are sold.
And that means they must be regulated by the Arizona Department of Health Services and only sold in dispensaries that are licensed to sell medical and recreational cannabis products.
Delta-8 is an intoxicating cannabinoid with a chemical profile and psychoactive effect materially similar to that of marijuana, but that is synthesized from the hemp plant. It is a chemical analog of delta-9, the primary psychoactive element that occurs naturally in marijuana.
Products made with delta-8 THC, including vape cartridges and gummies, are currently on sale in smoke shops across Arizona.
They have largely existed in a legal gray area in Arizona, with the hemp industry relying on congressional action in 2018, when that year’s annual Farm Bill expanded the definition of hemp to include “all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, (and) isomers” of the hemp plant. That paved the way for making delta-8, which is chemically synthesized from the naturally occurring cannabidiol into an intoxicating concentration.
Arizona voters have approved both medical and recreational marijuana in the state, but the industries are highly regulated, and licenses to operate are expensive. Arizona lawmakers this year are considering legislation backed by the hemp industry that would add more regulations to the sales of delta-8 THC products.
After the 2018 Farm Bill, production and sales of delta-8 THC products proliferated in Arizona, as they were seen as outside the scope of the state’s cannabis laws.
But Mayes said that simply isn’t the case. Arizona allows for “industrial hemp” production, but state law strictly defines those products to excluded derivatives and extracts — basically all delta-8 THC products — and explicitly says hemp products “made to be ingested” except those made of the hemp seed are not legal. And since the state’s hemp law doesn’t list inhalable products, like vape cartridges, those are also illegal to sell outside of dispensaries.
A legal opinion on Monday from Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes threatens to quash the sale of delta-8 THC products in smoke shops and gas stations.
Matt Hennie
‘It’s a wrongheaded approach to marijuana policy’
Mayes has effectively handed the existing marijuana industry a monopoly, said Jon Udell, the communications director for Arizona’s NORML chapter. NORML has backed legislation seeking to regulate the sale of delta-8 THC and similar projects in Arizona.
“This is Attorney General Mayes giving the marijuana industry something that the legislature would not,” he said. “It’s a disappointing outcome.”
Udell noted that legislation backed by the Arizona Dispensaries Association, which represents licensed cannabis retailers in the state, has been introduced in recent years that would do everything from outright ban hemp-derived THC products to making them legal to sell only at dispensaries.
Mayes’ legal opinion effectively does the latter, Udell said.
He noted that, in 2022, the Arizona Dispensaries Association chipped in $40,000 to a political committee that went on to spend more than $367,000 to help Mayes get elected. Mayes won the attorney general’s race over Republican Abe Hamadeh by just 280 votes.
Ann Torrez, the executive director of the Arizona Dispensaries Association, said her organization was pleased with Mayes’ findings.
“We believe it reflects the intent of Arizona’s voters and most importantly is in the best interest of public health and safety,” she said in an email to the Arizona Mirror.
Tom Dean, a Phoenix attorney who specializes in cannabis law, said Mayes’ opinion reads like a point-by-point rebuttal of a legal analysis he provided to her office in late 2023. Dean’s analysis concluded that hemp-based THC products were legal under Arizona and federal law.
Dean said he was disappointed in Mayes’ findings, which aren’t legally binding, and said the legal dispute over delta-8 THC and similar products warrants litigation. He said he is interested in building a coalition to seek a declaratory judgment from the courts to settle the matter once and for all.
“It’s just yet another example of what I think is a wrongheaded approach to marijuana policy in general,” he said.
Of particular concern for both Dean and Udell is how the opinion will affect CBD sales in Arizona. CBD products generally do not contain THC, the psychoactive element in marijuana, because they are made from hemp plants, which contain scant amounts of THC.
Mayes wrote in a footnote in her opinion that her conclusions only apply to “intoxicating” hemp-based products, and CBD production and sales are exempted from her findings. But both Dean and Udell said they don’t see how she can interpret the state’s hemp laws one way for delta-8 THC and another for CBD, given that they’re both made from the same plant.
“There’s absolutely no legal distinction between CBD and delta-8,” Dean said. “They want to treat CBD differently, but they can’t.”
This story was first published by Arizona Mirror, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Follow Arizona Mirror on Facebook and Twitter.
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Jim Small | Arizona Mirror
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South Carolina Bans CBD, Intoxicating Hemp Products in Extreme Crackdown | High Times
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Yet another state is cracking down on hemp-derived products, some of which have intoxicating effects, and South Carolina’s approach to food products that contain hemp is among the most extreme. Even hemp microgreens are banned while only products with hemp seeds and their derivatives will be off the hook.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) issued a warning in a letter dated Jan. 22, banning the manufacture, distribution, and sale of food and beverage products containing hemp-derived products as ingredients in the state’s marketplace.
But they’re not only going after hemp-derived cannabinoid products that are synthetically derived from hemp biomass, and known for psychoactive effects—i.e. delta-8 THC, THC-O, etc.—they’re going after products with CBD, hemp leaves, plant material and more as well. Delta-8 THC only appears in nature in minute amounts, and intoxicating amounts have to be re-added to hemp via a refluxing process in a lab. This is why states are opting to either crack down on it or regulate it like marijuana. The 2018 Farm Bill opened a legal loophole, accidentally legalizing these ingredients. Delta-8 THC products seeped into the medical markets in some states.
South Carolina’s ban on CBD is among the most extreme measures taken by state officials to date. While CBD products can easily be found in most states thanks to a lack of clarity in federal regulations, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has repeatedly warned that products containing CBD are illegal under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
The FDA routinely issues warnings that adding CBD to a food means those products are adulterated, or against products with any sort of medical claims, but the agency has delayed finalizing rules.
“Therefore, the following hemp products are NOT APPROVED to be added to food or beverage products,” the letter reads.
- Viable, non-sterilized hemp seeds, raw hemp leaves, and raw microgreens, and any other raw, unprocessed form of hemp biomass as they are considered “plant material” and may not be possessed without a Grower or Processor License
- Pure CBD Isolate
- Delta-8 THC, Delta-9 THC, or Delta-10 THC
- THC-0 or any other derivative
- “Full spectrum” whole-plant extract (i.e. “full spectrum hemp oil/extract” from biomass) if it includes health claims, or bears any sort of declaration of THC or CBD
- Any hemp product that is NOT manufactured in a food-grade establishment inspected under GMP or cGMP regulations.
- Any hemp or hemp-derived product that promotes its medical or health benefits
The only exceptions are basically hemp seed derivatives. “The FDA evaluated three Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) notices for hemp products and found that the use of such products as described in the notices is safe. Therefore, the following hemp products may be legally marketed in human foods and are APPROVED to be used as ingredients in food and beverage products,” the letter continues.
“While DHEC’s goal is to educate while we regulate this growing niche of manufacturers and distributors of foods and beverages containing hemp-derived products as ingredients, our obligation under the requirements of both federal and state law is to remove from commerce all food and beverage products containing non-conforming hemp-derived products as ingredients,” Sandra Craig, Director of the DEHC’s Division of Food and Lead Risk Assessments, said in a letter announcing the bans.
Sellers can use full-spectrum whole-plant extract as an ingredient in food and beverage products if and only if the hemp-derived ingredient meets the following requirements:
- A “full spectrum” hemp oil or extract from biomass contains the naturally occurring ratios and array of phytonutrients found in hemp.
- Using a full spectrum hemp oil as an ingredient must be referred to in the ingredients list on the food or beverage label as “Full Spectrum Hemp Oil” or “Full Spectrum Hemp Extract.” The label may not contain health claims and may not bear any sort of declaration of “THC”, “CBD”, or “Delta-9” products or isolates.
- When companies in South Carolina receive their “full spectrum hemp oil/extract” from their approved supplier, it must contain no more than 0.3% Delta-9 THC, as evidenced by Certificates of Analysis (COAs). The use of concentrates or “work in progress hemp oil from biomass” containing more than 0.3% Delta-9 THC, is illegal. Companies may NOT use “crude” hemp-derived oil, “work in progress” hemp oils over 0.3% Delta-9 THC, non-food grade oils, or dilute hemp oils containing an illegal amount of THC (> 0.3%) to a “legal” level. Hemp products containing more than the legal limit of THC are no longer considered to be hemp but are a Schedule I Drug. Hemp products that contain more than 0.3% THC are NOT ALLOWED to be possessed by anyone in South Carolina, and they are NOT ALLOWED to be introduced into foods or beverages.
The letter also bans any mention of THC, dosages, and several other restrictions. The letter also reminds hemp sellers that only intrastate hemp product sales are allowed.
At least a dozen other states are actively pursuing solutions to ban hemp-derived products in one form or another.
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Benjamin M. Adams
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