Perfectly Legal Hemp

With a little imagination, perfectly legal hemp can produce intoxicants that rival anything marijuana has to offer.     

For starters, the small percentage of delta-9 permitted in hemp products can obscure a large dose. Hemp also contains THCA, which converts to delta-9 when heated, such as through smoking or vaping. This provided hemp companies with a workaround: Retailers’ shelves are stacked with products that advertise THCA levels well above 0.3%. 

At first glance, the 2018 Farm Bill appears to ban those products—a position the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and other law enforcement agencies have adopted. The bill requires hemp plants to be tested for “total THC”—a formula that combines delta-9 and THCA—before harvest, and destroyed, deflowered, or shredded into biomass if the test finds more than 0.3%. 

But if farmers plan correctly, they can still send THCA-loaded hemp to market, said Asheville cannabis industry attorney Rod Kight. “It’s all about the timing and genetics,” Kight wrote in an email. Federal rules give growers up to 30 days between testing and harvest, enough time for THCA levels to change significantly. 

Once plants pass a total THC test, delta-9 becomes “the only metric that matters,” Kight wrote.   

Manufacturers, meanwhile, have found that they can use hemp to synthesize cannabinoids that mimic delta-9’s effects. The DEA has argued that lab-made compounds—including the popular delta-8 as well as novel synthetics like THCO—are illegal. 

But federal courts have disagreed, ruling that these compounds are derived from hemp and that the Farm Bill only addresses delta-9.