Delta-8 is the latest trend to hit hemp shops across the country, including here in Kentucky. But the hemp-based product is not without controversy. The legality of Delta-8 might depend on who you ask.
What is Delta-8?
Delta-8 THC is a compound derived from hemp. In flower form, it looks like marijuana, but it’s different than the Delta-9 THC compound in marijuana, which is what gives folks a “high.”
Some users have reported much milder effects. Others have described euphoria.
Delta-8 can be sold in a variety of forms, like an oil or edible. It can be smoked, vaped, or ingested.
It’s a product Dee Dee Taylor added to her shelves at 502-HEMP last September. Her Louisville CBD store is a place people go to find a fix for pain, anxiety, seizures, and more.
“It’s about them. I want them to feel better,” Taylor said. “I don’t want them to suffer from pain, it has always been about my customers”
Taylor said when Delta-8 was first introduced, she admits she was skeptical of its legality.
Is Delta-8 legal?
Delta-8 advocates point to the 2018 Farm Bill. The Farm Bill was signed into law in Kentucky three years ago. It removed hemp and derivatives of cannabis with less than .3% of Delta-9 THC from the Controlled Substance Act.
“As long as it came from a hemp plant to start with, it was legal, or lawful,” Taylor’s husband, John, said. He is a processor for CBD products, not Delta-8, but supported his wife’s decision to sell Delta-8 in her store.
“All of my research said this was legal, until that letter from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture was introduced,” Taylor said. She explained that she even asked customers who worked in law enforcement, and was given a thumbs up to sell it.
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture sees the legality of Delta-8 differently.
Sean Southard with the Department of Agriculture pointed to a list by the DEA, which considers Delta-8 a controlled substance.
He argues that Delta-8 is a synthetic drug because it’s produced from a chemical reaction. There have also been claims that it’s made with battery acid.
“All of my products have been tested; that’s the most important thing to know . They get tested by certified labs,” argued Taylor. “I wouldn’t have sold them if they weren’t safe.”
On April 19, 2021, right before 4/20, KDA sent out a letter to hemp license holders to address concerns with making Delta-8. It warned growers and processors that distributing Delta-8 is illegal, and could lead to expulsion from the Hemp Licensing Program, as well as potential criminal prosecution.
Taylor received a copy of the letter, at first thinking it did not impact her. Then she started hearing of stores across Kentucky being raided. One Facebook post from the Sheriff’s Department in Casey County, Kentucky said the store owner would face felony charges if caught selling Delta-8 again.
“That really scared me. I was like, what do I do? People need this product,” Taylor said.
Ultimately, she took it off her shelves.
The U.S. Cannabis Council also addressed Delta-8 in a recent report and stated the 2018 Farm Bill is not a “loophole,” and does not “legalize the production of psychoactive drugs simply because the base material has been extracted from industrial hemp.”
INJUNCTION FILED
In July, Taylor was part of an injunction filed…
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