Prominent store owner says don’t panic. Hemp’s legal status in North Carolina could be at risk if lawmakers don’t act soon. A 2015 bill that created the state’s Hemp Pilot Program and exempted hemp from the state’s list of controlled substances sunsets at the end of June, news agencies in the state have reported. The Hemp Pilot Program expired in January, but hemp producers were able to continue growing the plant under federal oversight through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, ...[Read More]

Colorado lawmakers have passed a bill giving the state’s Department of Public Health & Environment authority to create regulations barring the sale of hemp-derived THC isomers including delta-8, reports the U.S. Hemp Roundtable. The legislation — SB22-205, which has been sent to Governor Jared Polis for his signature — also gives the state’s attorney general the authority and extra funding to take enforcement action against intoxicating hemp products. Lastly, the legislation creates a task f...[Read More]

Remember that scene from Due Date where Zach Galifianakis says he needs to stop for weed because he left his glaucoma medication on the plane? Turns out that’s a legitimate medical use — although not one an ophthalmologist would generally recommend. According to the results of a new study, however, people with glaucoma might be able to get the benefits of a cannabis-based treatment without the psychotropic side effects of THC. (Yes, it’s possible not everyone will be happy about this news.) The ...[Read More]

Also calls CBD an “unapproved food additive.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 4 sent warning letters to five companies for selling delta-8 THC products. This is the first time the FDA has issued warning letters about delta-8. The agency said these products violate the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and that there are no FDA-approved drugs containing delta-8 THC. “Delta-8 THC has psychoactive and intoxicating effects and may be dangerous to consumers,” the FD...[Read More]

Raids for delta-8 and delta-10 started on 4/20. CBD shops in Topeka, Kansas, have been raided over the last week and a half, with law enforcement targeting hemp-derived THC. But shop owners say their products are legal according to state and federal law. Raids Start on 4/20 Topeka police searched Guardian Recreational Cannabis Dispensary April 20, making an arrest as part of what they called an “active investigation,” reported Topeka’s 27 News. Then, April 28, the Shawnee Count...[Read More]

Latest version would allow adult use and establish a 5 percent tax on hemp-derived products. Tennessee lawmakers have amended a bill that would have made delta-8 and other hemp-derived THC products illegal across the state, reports WBIR Channel 10 News. Instead, they’re opting to allow sales for ages 21 and up, and institute a 5 percent sales tax. The previous version of the bill, House Bill 1927, eliminated distinctions between THC isomers, making them all illegal in concentrations above 0.3 pe...[Read More]

His letter also blasts the proliferation of delta-8 THC. US House Representative James Comer (R-KY) has called for a committee-level hearing with the US Food and Drug Administration to address its failure to establish regulations for the sale of hemp-derived extracts including CBD. Comer, a ranking member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, asked for the hearing via a letter to Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). At the hearing, the FDA would explain how it plans to bring order to an unr...[Read More]

A bill before Arizona state lawmakers would ban the production and sale of popular gummies, extracts, and vapes containing delta-8 or any other hemp-derived THC, reports the Phoenix New Times. The bill, Senate Bill 1715, revises existing hemp laws to exclude “hemp-derived manufactured impairing cannabinoids” from the definition of hemp. It passed the state Senate in March and was transmitted to the House. There’s been no action since. The bill revises existing hemp laws to exclude “hemp-de...[Read More]

The U.S. Hemp Roundtable and industry supporters have persuaded Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin to strike a particularly restrictive provision from a hemp bill, but not without drawbacks, and Colorado and Rhode Island introduced similarly stringent bills this week. Virginia First, though Virginia Governor Youngkin decided to remove the provision from SB 591 that would have effectively illegalized all full-spectrum hemp products (setting a limit at 0.25mg of THC per serving or 1mg per package), ...[Read More]

Michigan made headlines last year as the first state to regulate delta-8 THC for adult-use rather than banning it. Now the agency tasked with oversight appears to be rethinking its open-arms approach to hemp-derived THC, according to Michigan news site MLive.com. April 15, Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency announced it was withdrawing its plan to allow licensed cannabis processors to convert hemp into THC. Rules proposed by the agency in January (then named the Marijuana Regulatory Agency) w...[Read More]

Should the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have authority to treat hemp that temporarily surpasses the legal THC limit during processing as a controlled substance? That’s the essence of a question before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which heard arguments April 19 from hemp industry attorneys and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA is defending its legal authority to take enforcement action when hemp surpasses the current federal threshold: 0....[Read More]

Proposed 21+ age restriction on CBD also fails for now. A Virginia bill that would have banned delta-8 THC and put age restrictions on CBD failed to pass the in state’s Senate and won’t be considered until the legislature’s next session, reports Hemp Today. A version of the bill, Senate Bill 591, had already passed the Senate and House. But it was amended by Governor Glenn Youngkin, so returned to the General Assembly for another vote. The Assembly’s version of the bill would have allowed delta-...[Read More]

Two Democratic Pennsylvania senators, Judy Schwank and Sharif Street, sent a memo to their Senate colleagues April 6 seeking co-sponsors for a bill that would ban sales of delta-8 THC in the state, reports Cannabis Business Times. They have not introduced the bill yet, but said they plan to do so soon. Delta-8 is a THC isomer derived from hemp. Like the more well-known delta-9 THC, it has psychotropic effects — though users report those effects are milder than delta-9. Delta-8 occurs naturally i...[Read More]

Hemp and cannabis might seem like obvious partners in business. But in many places, especially those with recreational adult-use, economic and regulatory tensions have instead created rivalries. One state with recreational cannabis seems to have tweaked its laws in a way that encourages partnerships: Massachusetts. Friends or Rivals? The rivalry between hemp and cannabis seems to have grown in tandem with consumer interest in delta-8 and other hemp-derived THC. Several of the first states to ban...[Read More]