Nearly two dozen attorneys general from across the country wrote a letter to congressional leaders this week, urging them to enact legislation to federally regulate intoxicating hemp products. In the letter, the top law enforcement official from 21 states wrote that the legalization of hemp with the 2018 Farm Bill has resulted in “the proliferation of intoxicating hemp products across the nation and challenges to the ability for states and localities to respond to the resulting health and safety crisis.”

The letter, dated March 20, was addressed to the committee chair and ranking minority members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry and the House Committee on Agriculture. The correspondence was led by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, both Republicans, and co-signed by the attorneys general of 19 additional states, including Democrats and Republicans.

In their letter, the state officials call on the leaders in Congress “to address the glaring vagueness created in the 2018 Farm Bill.” The legislation has led to the proliferation of products containing psychoactive novel and minor cannabinoids that can be derived from hemp, including delta 8 THC, THCA, HHC and others.

“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,” reads the letter.

To address the issue, regulators and lawmakers in many states across the country are seeking ways to stem the tide of unregulated intoxicating hemp products, arguing that they pose a health risk, particularly to young people. Advocates for tighter controls on intoxicating hemp products in states with legal weed note they pose a competitive threat to licensed marijuana businesses, which face the high costs and taxes often associated with the regulated pot industry.

Regulating intoxicating hemp products has been resisted by some businesses and industry advocates. Some companies marketing intoxicating hemp products have filed lawsuits to block new regulations, arguing that the 2018 Farm Bill specifically legalizes hemp-derived cannabinoids other than delta-9 THC.

These legal actions have produced mixed results. In Arkansas, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in September that bars the implementation of a law to ban intoxicating hemp products. 

“These inconsistent court rulings are part of the reason I have urged Congress to step in and create consistency across the nation to protect our children from these dangerous drugs,” Griffin said in an email to Politico.

California Attorney General Bonta, one of the attorneys general who signed the letter to congressional leaders, said that intoxicating hemp products constitute a health risk for young people.

“Our children deserve better,” Bonta said in a statement. “The 2018 Farm Bill, however well-intentioned, created a loophole that has led to the proliferation of products, often containing synthesized cannabinoids, that are more intoxicating than legal and regulated cannabis products. These products often take the form of candy and are designed to appeal to young people and children. California prohibits intoxicating cannabinoids in hemp products, whether naturally derived or synthetic. The California Department of Justice will continue to protect the legitimate businesses who are operating responsibly in this space.”

The letter calls on the leaders of the congressional agricultural committees to take action to regulate intoxicating hemp products by redefining hemp in the next farm bill, which is currently being debated in Congress. The legislation, which guides policy on a wide range of issues related to agriculture, is updated every five years, although progress on last year’s anticipated renewal of the legislation was delayed to this year.

“The reason Congress needs to act is that its definition of industrial hemp is the original source of the problem and the confusion that has sprung up around what is allowed and what’s not allowed under state and federal law,” Indiana Solicitor General James Barta said in an interview with Politico.

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A Florida legislative subcommittee on Monday advanced a bill to restrict psychoactive hemp-derived cannabinoids such as Delta 8 THC and Delta 10. The legislation, House Bill 1613, was advanced by the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee by a vote of 8-4. 

The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp and hemp products at the federal level, leading to a surge in new hemp businesses nationwide. Under the legislation, cannabis with no more than 0.3% Delta 9 THC (the compound largely responsible for the “high” experienced when smoking marijuana) on a dry weight basis is considered legal hemp under federal law.

Legalization Spawns New Hemp Products

The growth of the hemp industry has led to novel new products, including those containing psychoactive cannabinoids such as Delta 8 and Delta 10 THC. Such products are widely available in easily accessible locations including convenience stores, gas stations and smoke shops throughout the country, leading lawmakers in many states to take steps to regulate hemp-derived cannabinoids.

The legislation advanced on Monday would ban Delta 8, Delta 10 and other hemp-derived cannabinoids including hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), tetrahydrocannabinol acetate (THC-O), tetrahydrocannabiphorol (THC-P), and tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCv). 

“This bill is not designed to criminalize behavior,” Republican State Representative Tommy Gregory, the sponsor of the bill, said in a statement about the legislation cited by local media. “This bill is designed to be a consumer protection tool.”

The bill also redefines hemp to “outline that hemp extract may not exceed 0.3% total delta-9-THC concentration on a wet-weight basis or exceed 2 milligrams per serving and 10 milligrams per container on a wet-weight basis,” according to a report from Florida Politics. The new standard is more restrictive than the 2018 Farm Bill and would essentially ban many products available today, including full-spectrum CBD oils.

Jeff Sharkey, a hemp industry advocate, said the bill would help protect consumers from cannabinoids not naturally found in cannabis, which have not been studied for safety as much as Delta 9 THC and CBD.

“This is an attempt by the Legislature to reign in some of the synthetic products that are out there like under the guise of hemp,” said Sharkey.

Bill Has Vocal Opposition

Other proponents of the hemp industry including some lawmakers and small business owners agree that some regulation of hemp products is appropriate. However, they are concerned that HB 1613 is too restrictive and will harm or even destroy Florida’s hemp businesses, many of which are small, locally-owned enterprises. 

At Monday’s subcommittee hearing for HB 1613, Democratic Representative Hillary Cassel said that if the bill is approved by the legislature and signed into law by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, it will destroy Florida’s hemp economy.

“You will go to another state,” she said to those in the hemp industry attending the hearing. “And we will find our consumers and Floridians in a position where they will be buying [hemp products] from the black market, buying it off the internet and having no idea what’s contained within that product.”

Michael Pool, who operates Tampa-based hemp retailer Astrobleme, said that the milligram cap in the bill would not only ban the psychoactive products targeted by the legislation. The bill would also affect many non-psychoactive products that people across Florida now use.

“I have products in over 80 stores across the state,” Pool told Florida Phoenix. “Most of those stores are doing $2,000 a month, $3,000 a month, to $4,000 a month in sales of my products. And to just completely remove that would not be to my detriment, but all those others.”

However, the sponsor of the legislation does not believe that HB 1613 will harm the legal hemp industry. Representative Thad Altman, chair of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee and a fellow Republican, asked Gregory how he thought passage of the bill would impact the state economy. 

“I don’t concede that that actually it’s going to have a negative fiscal impact on businesses or revenue derived from taxes based on those businesses,” Gregory maintained, but did foresee reduced state spending for “providing care for people that overdose when they’re self-medicating using these products that need further regulation.”

Later, Democratic Representative Dianne Hart asked Gregory directly, “Do we think that this may destroy a vital industry in our state?”

“No, I don’t have that concern at all,” Gregory replied. “I don’t think that it’s going to have that impact.”

Glen Sheppard and his wife operate Tallulah, the owner of a chain of smoke shops around Florida. He disputed Gregory’s assertion that the bill would hurt the state’s economy.

“To say that there won’t be any economic impact to the state of Florida, I can tell you that’s totally false,” Sheppard said. “It’s strange that somebody can come stand up here and claim one thing that’s totally, obviously not true at all.”

HB 1613 now heads to the House Infrastructure Strategies Committee. If the legislation is approved there, it will head to the floor for a vote by the full House of Representatives. A companion measure, SB 1698 from Republican Senator Colleen Burton, is expected to receive a vote on the floor of the Florida Senate this week.

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No. Teen use is down. Mental health rates are stable.

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Get 25% off everything from Galaxy Treats with this Leafly exclusive deal. Use code LEAFLY25 at checkout to snag savings on delta-9 & more.

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Scandinavian countries in Europe are taking steps to halt the sale of psychoactive compounds derived from hemp—most recently hexahydrocannabinol (HHC).

According to Senior Inspector at the Finnish Medicines Agency (Fimea), Katja Pihlainen, HHC products have flooded Europe and made their way into Finland. She said that Finland recently classified HHC as a psychoactive substance that’s banned for sale on the consumer market, and Sweden is following suit with its own plans to ban the compound.

Finnish paper Yle reports that Pihlainen noted that the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), and member state agencies are concerned about the rise of HHC products on the European market. This is prompting individual governments to take action. Part of the uproar is regarding the unknowns of vaporized “new” compounds, which in some cases caused different effects than eating a compound.

Finland already made changes. “Burning or vaporising it can make it more harmful. We don’t know how it affects the body,” Pihlainen said. Pihlainen added that HHC first became popular in the United States, after the 2018 Farm Bill legalized industrial hemp containing up to 0.3 percent THC, because the law didn’t explicitly address hemp-derived psychoactive cannabinoids such as delta-8 or HHC. 

Finland is taking the initiative on the issue. “If you want to ban HHC as a drug, all countries have to do it separately. Or start doing it some other way, if you want to regulate it,” Pihlainen told Yle.

The EMCDDA explained why they are targeting hemp-derived compounds like HHC. “HHC is sold openly as a ‘legal’ replacement to THC and cannabis in a range of highly attractive branded and unbranded products—some of which are sold as ‘legal highs’. These include hemp sprayed or mixed with HHC—which look and smell like ‘genuine’ cannabis—as well as vapes and edibles. Marketing and advertising often make direct comparisons to the effects of THC and cannabis,” an EMCDDA document explained.

The sale and possession of drugs is strictly forbidden in Finland, including cannabis and hashish. “Anyone in possession of drugs, including hash, runs the risk of being arrested and expelled from the country or imprisoned,” the government states. “Drug dealing carries very heavy penalties. Please note that the Finnish customs regularly checks mail deliveries from abroad, and a person receiving a postal delivery including any kind of drugs (including medicines) runs the risk of a penalty.”

Other Scandinavian countries will likely follow Finland. According to Pihlainen, Sweden has also started a process to ban HHC. 

What is HHC?

While delta-8 THC and other hemp-derived cannabinoids are “new” in terms of popularity, HHC was first synthesized in the 1940s by Roger Adams. Adams used delta-9 THC found in Cannabis sativa and altered it to make HHC.

Adams and his team of students made discoveries that led to significant scientific advances. In 1940, Adams identified and synthesized CBD. Other discoveries include showing CBD’s relationship to cannabinol (CBN) and THC. He also synthesized CBN and THC analogs, including HHC.

Not all hemp-derived cannabinoids are the same. HHC carts are reportedly more potent than traditional THC products, such as delta-8 and delta-9 THC, which may provide users with a stronger and more euphoric high.

But a growing call to crack down on cannabinoids that are not fully understood could pose a problem for the long-term viability of the psychoactive hemp market. HHC is rarely specifically addressed, but states that have cracked down on delta-8 THC and similar products will likely go after HHC eventually as well.

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Tennessee leaders are again putting forth a bill that would regulate hemp-derived cannabinoids like delta-8 and delta-10 THC, after a previous attempt failed last year. Some hemp advocates applauded the bill, while others would rather simply legalize cannabis, naturally rich in delta-9 THC.

State House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) and Sen. Richard Briggs, (R-Knoxville) introduced a bill on Tuesday to regulate products containing hemp-derived cannabinoids, such as delta-8 and delta-10 THC—his second attempt to do so.

House Bill 403 would tax and regulate cannabinoids derived from hemp via what some describe as synthetic processes. Typically products with delta-8 THC are marketed as being somewhat psychoactive, with effects weaker but similar to delta-9 THC.

“Delta-8 is a legal substance that can be sold and packaged in the form of candy or gummies; it often has a very high concentration of THC,” Rep. Lamberth stated. “There are no regulations and no legitimate way for anyone to know exactly what they are buying. Nothing in our current law prohibits a child from purchasing delta-8.”

The bill would ban the sale of hemp-derived cannabinoid products to people under the age of 21; adds a 5% additional sales tax to any product sold at a store; and create a licensing, quality testing, regulatory and enforcement process through the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.

“We need to regulate this because the horse is out of the barn,” Sen. Briggs said. “This stuff is everywhere, and we can’t put that genie back in the bottle.”

What is Delta-8 THC?

The idea is that hemp-derived CBD can be converted to other compounds, frequently being marketed as psychoactive. This doesn’t mesh with the general U.S. definition of hemp, bred specifically to not be psychoactive.

Delta-8 THC occurs naturally, but only in trace amounts: According to Chemical & Engineering News, cannabis plants naturally contain just 0.1% delta-8 THC or less—though some plants contain as much as 1%. Jeffrey Raber, cofounder and CEO of the Werc Shop told C&E News that there isn’t enough delta-8 THC found naturally in hemp to be economical for extraction.

But hemp growers in the state are supportive of the bill despite some suspicion about emerging hemp-derived cannabinoids. “We support anything that doesn’t put burdensome regulations on the industry,” Kelley Hess, executive director of the Tennessee Growers Coalition, said.

While hemp growers may support delta-8 products, others do not.

Artists such as Margo Price support legalization, but don’t support hemp-derived cannabinoid products in Tennessee. Opponents don’t like the way certain cannabinoids are extracted from hemp, which usually means altering the CBD molecule, which is found in hemp in larger amounts, using natural solvents and acids.

Attempt to Regulate Delta-8 Last Year

While some states moved to restrict hemp-derived cannabinoids, such as Utah, Tennessee would be taking a much different approach by regulating it instead.

Rep. Lamberth sponsored an earlier attempt to regulate delta-8 THC and similar compounds. Some Tennessee lawmakers and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said that by regulating delta-8, the state would be legitimizing the industry. 

House Bill 1927, which was introduced previously, would regulate delta-8 by making it illegal in most cases outside trace-level concentrations. The bill was amended in April 2022 to be more specific to include other hemp-derived THCs such as delta-9 and 10 and the derivative hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), but exclude non-THC hemp cannabinoids such as CBD.

Tennessee is one of 11 non-green states that hasn’t legalized, regulated, or decriminalized cannabis in some form. 

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Unclear which hemp-derived cannabinoids like delta-8, delta-10, or HHC will flag a drug test? Never fear, you’ve come to the right place.

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HHC is one of the buzziest hemp-derived cannabinoids around. But does this calm cousin of Delta-8 live up to the hype? We ate some HHC gummies to find out.

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Looking for the latest in the world of recreational hemp cannabinoids? Binoid is a simple online source stocked with the good stuff.

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What a time to be alive.

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