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Is Delta 8 THC Legal?

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The new hot cannabinoid that many people are seeing is Delta 8 THC. You can hear advertisements for it on popular podcasts or find it on your local vape shop. There has even been an article in the New York Times about it recently. The big question around Delta 8 THC is if it legal or not.


What is Delta 8 THC?

You can read more about D8 in our previous blog post here. Delta 8 THC is one of the hundreds of cannabinoids naturally found in the cannabis or hemp plant. No plant is high in D8, and you extract and concentrate the plant like a CBD or Delta 9 THC plant. Delta 8 produces from converting CBD isolate into D8 using a catalyst.

What Does Delta 8 THC Do?

There is not too much information on Delta 8 just yet. It is still a new cannabinoid that is exploding in popularity. It is a very similar chemical structure to Delta 9 THC. Consumers report it is less intoxicating and less psychoactive than Delta 9. Many people say it is in between CBD and Delta 9 THC in terms of effects.

Is It Legal?

That is the question everyone is wondering right now. Many companies are selling Delta 8 online and in stores. It is trendy right now. In late August, the DEA came out with a letter, and every single D8 producer shut down their website. You could not find Delta 8 for 3-4 weeks. One after another, these D8 companies started to pop back up, and no one has heard from the DEA since. The argument that delta 8 is not legal is that CBD is synthetically converted to make Delta 8. Delta 8 THC is on the controlled substance list.

The argument that D8 is legal is that it comes from industrial hemp. The 2018 farm bill rules state that as long as the final product is below 0.3% Delta 9 THC, it is legal. That is what all D8 sellers are basing the legality of their products on. Now there is a whole other story on testing for Delta 8 THC. It is challenging to get an accurate reading for a certificate of analysis for Delta 8 products. Every inhalation D8 product like vape pens or dabs is going to be hot for delta 9 THC. Edibles can make it under the 0.3% delta 9 THC requirement.

So the real answer is no one knows if it’s legal or not. These companies selling Delta 8 are taking a risk, but the market is huge for these products and is only getting more popular. It will be fascinating to see what happens with Delta 8 THC.

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