As the cannabis industry continues to expand across the nation and globe, multiple new THC analogs are hot on the menu from extract labs with an overwhelming supply of CBD that simply isn’t selling. One of these lab conversions is known as Delta-8 THC, and it has hit the nation hard with so many different hemp companies finding a way to stay afloat by commercializing this new type of THC.
This is an excellent thing for patients that become used to CBD, and is also useful for states that don’t allow THC or recreational use – or is it? When the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly passed the Farm Bill, a new industry was born. CNN’s Sanjay Gupta displayed the tiny icons of cannabis in the Weed Series that was presented to the public nearly a decade ago, and that same industry touted its ability to medicate people without getting them high.
I won’t pretend to dance around this subject with which many love to do the waltz. Instead, let’s tackle the facts.
What many need to understand about laws is that sidestepping legislative intent always catches up to those doing it. By no means did the U.S. Congress create a bill for farmers so people in labs could convert cannabinoids under a loophole to market powerful quasi-cannabis items to people in states that have yet to legalize them. Nor was it their intent to allow the provision of cannabinoids to people in legal states to attempt to be competitive with the real deal – Delta-9 THC from the plant.
Jump ahead to 2022, and now consumers are exposed to modern, trendy marketing for products that are beyond misleading. Sure, it’s a great thing to see the hemp industry stay alive during a harsh economic time, but is it that great of an item if the hemp-derived cannabinoids within them were lab created? Is it great that these products are put on shelves for consumers far faster than researchers could possibly study both efficacy and safety?
There are concerns far beyond the marketing to vulnerable consumers when it comes to semi-synthetic or completely synthetic creations made in labs to vie with the THC-focused cannabis market. Let’s sidestep the hypocrisy in the “Happy Hempy Weekend” crowd that once walked around being better than the THC folks due to their non-inebriating substances. That’s now history. Hemp and CBD are known to make some of the most toxic and harmful new cannabinoids on the market.
THC’s Risks and the Delta-8 Debate
THC is no longer a threat to kids like the NIDA studies have made the cannabis plant out to be because it hasn’t killed them. But CBD and all these new delta products are – especially Delta-8, which took the life of young Tanner Clements. Remember that name. The cannabis crowd with the gooey sticky nugs can still claim that their products are safe for kids, but the hemp cannabinoid conversion crowd cannot.
The Dangers of Delta-8 Flower Fraud
Dorothy Annette Clements, a 30-year-old mother, was indicted by the Grand Jury in Virginia on Oct. 17, 2022, on charges of felony murder and felony child neglect after she bought Delta-8 THC gummies. Her son consumed them and died of Delta-8 toxicity.
There is no such thing as Delta-8 flower, only CBD flower sprayed with a lab-created cannabinoid. The U.S. Department of Justice and the DEA may classify this practice as fraud. Lab reports show many Delta-8 products contain Delta-9 THC or CBD in unsafe amounts.
The bottom line is straightforward: consumers have been misled. Delta-8 THC is not a natural product, and its production often involves dangerous chemicals. Proper testing and transparency are critical to consumer safety. The cannabis industry needs to focus on the real deal: the beautiful cannabis plant and its fat nugs!
Smoke up and toke up, but be careful with anything that doesn’t come from nature.
From the FDA:
“Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as Delta-8 THC, is a psychoactive substance found in the Cannabis sativa plant, of which marijuana and hemp are two varieties. Delta-8 THC is one of over 100 cannabinoids produced naturally by the cannabis plant but is not found in significant amounts in the cannabis plant. As a result, concentrated amounts of Delta-8 THC are typically manufactured from hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD).”
