Delta-8 has been the talk of the industry regarding where it will sit legally as the 87th legislative session ends.
Possibly the most commonly asked question on the topic of hemp recently is this very item. Is the legislature going to remove delta-8 from the shelves with this new legislation? For the longest time, those of us working on the scene were not sure even with language in place. We were unsure with the language removed. If I were a betting man, I would bet that the Senate will attempt to put something back into HB3948 at this point to completely ban delta-8.
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The language won’t be explicit but perhaps something along the lines of prohibiting using a chemical catalyst process to create a good to be consumed. It would sound very much like anything that would be synthetic, by the legal definition of synthetic. The biggest issue that I can think of with this type of language would run into is that CO2 extraction methods for basic CBD oil would technically fall under this type of statute. What about cbd emulsified with water? Unless I’m missing something from all the nuclear power plant chemical engineer training I got, the following sentence is true. The water is a chemical combined with another chemical to create a new mixture, the emulsifier is a catalyst as it was added to take two separate chemicals and make them one. So a water based cbd fusion would now be banned on the market.
With that scenario in mind, if the language gets broader or more ambiguous, any derivative will be in some sort of possible legal limbo. That would include hemp wood, hemp plastics, hempcrete, hemp cloth, etc. This would be leaving courts to possibly sort through dozens if not hundreds of cases across the state. Where is the line drawn between synthetics and derivatives?
The issue is the Senate had debate in the previous session that resulted in claims that no psychoactive substance would be a product of this bill being passed, we weren’t legalizing marijuana, and that nobody would be getting “high” from this hemp bill. Perhaps it wasn’t in the spirit of the hemp program, but nobody would have guessed this was going to become a thing and take off the way it did.
It’s a bit of overkill as well to go after every isomer, salt, acid, etc of this plant in an attempt to stop future issues. We don’t know what each isomer that is created from CBD does and there could definitely be ones that give people medicinal benefits and don’t produce the effects that appear to be targeted in this bill change. The best answer likely at this point in time if that is what is desired to be curbed and delt-8 is to be targeted is to create a 1% total THC limit for the products. This was originally in the bill and was removed with pressure in the House during committee hearings. It would keep everything available and stop the problem the government wants to force address against what would appear to be public will and even the DEA.
Honestly, if the FDA/DEA/USDA truly thought delta-8 was an illegal synthetic, why aren’t we hearing about the raids of so called materials to stop it? And those states that have banned it, all have another market that is competing with them that is throwing a fuss.
That’s just my take. But you have a chance to show up tomorrow at the capitol and let your voice be heard on this bill. I highly encourage everyone to share this with shop owners as quickly as possible and have them come to testify on how this could hurt their business if the law is changed the way I’ve mentioned above. Here is where you need to be at the state capitol.
COMMITTEE: Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs
TIME & DATE: 8:00 AM, Tuesday, May 18, 2021
PLACE: 2E.20 (Betty King Cmte. Rm.)
Read more about Delta-8 in Texas
Remember that the answer is not to ban all acids, salts, isomers, or to prohibit manufacturing sale and use of isomers of THC, but to limit the amount that can be present in a product defined as hemp. This also leaves room for the use of the substance in the TCUP. The answer is to make this an item that doesn’t get into the hands of children, so make it a 21+ age item like alcohol and tobacco. The program needs third-party testing, it needs product verification testing for products coming in from out of state, and we need lab audits.
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