A group of physicians who support drug policy reform say in a new position paper on the widespread accessibility of delta-8 THC and certain other cannabinoids derived from federally legal hemp that further regulation of the lesser-known chemicals is crucial in order to protect public health.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur understanding of these compounds is limited,\u201d says the paper, from the group Doctors for Drug Policy Reform (D4DPR), a nonprofit that generally advocates for the legal regulation of drugs such as marijuana rather than prohibition. \u201cMany have never been observed in nature and their toxicology is unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur stance at D4DPR,\u201d it says, \u201cis that all intoxicating cannabinoids should be subject to a regulatory framework to ensure public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryon Adinoff, the group\u2019s president, told Marijuana Moment that the paper is intended to help bridge the policy gap between hemp\u2014legalized federally through the 2018 Farm Bill\u2014and marijuana, which remains federally illegal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason we got into this problem is by making this artificial distinction between two plants, hemp and cannabis, that are identical plants. One has low amounts of THC and one doesn\u2019t,\u201d Adinoff said. \u201cThat\u2019s what got us into this mess.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we said, \u2018OK, we\u2019re going to regulate intoxicating compounds, and we\u2019re going to do them all the same, then we\u2019d never have run into this problem,\u201d he added. \u201cI think we need a different regulatory process for cannabis that can be used for other plant medicines, such as psychedelics, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The paper recommends implementing \u201ca regulatory framework for all intoxicating cannabinoids, regardless of their source (hemp, cannabis, laboratory synthesis, or via bioreactors\/fermentation).\u201d<\/p>\n
It warns that attempting to prohibit the new cannabinoids would be counterproductive.<\/p>\n
Regulators, the paper says, must \u201crecognize that an outright ban on minor cannabinoids (rather than their regulatory control) will result in a continuation of the drug war, leading to negative outcomes on public health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Such regulations would include establishing licensing requirements for businesses selling the products, taxation to fund oversight and health initiatives, prohibition of sales or marketing to children, the requirement of childproof containers, clear labeling of intoxicating effects and mandatory lab testing for purity and potency, the paper says.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs many of these cannabinoids are newly described and difficult to detect,\u201d it adds, \u201cresearch into toxicology, clinical safety, and laboratory testing standards must be conducted.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the paper notes, delta-8 THC\u2014as opposed to the delta-9 THC in marijuana\u2014\u201dremains legal and unregulated, with limited testing and taxation, lacking warnings about its intoxicating effects, without dosing limits, and easily accessible to minors.\u201d On top of that, \u201cnumerous new \u2018minor cannabinoids\u2019 have been synthesized from CBD, including \u2206-10 THC, tetrahydrocannabinol THCO), hexahydrocannabinol HHC, tetrahydrocannabiphoral THCP, and tetrahydrocannabivarin THCV\u2026 Our understanding of these compounds is limited; many have never been observed in nature and their toxicology is unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t get our lettuce like this,\u201d Adinoff said. \u201cMost of the things we buy are regulated, and overall we come out ahead\u2026 We\u2019re not seeing really bad outcomes, but I still think we\u2019d be better with a regulated system.\u201d<\/p>\n
D4DPR recommends that all states without a regulatory framework for minor cannabinoids to align them \u201cwith those in place for cannabis.\u201d For states without either medical marijuana or legal adult-use cannabis, the group recommends that delta-9 THC \u201cshould be included in this framework,\u201d a gentle call for an end to prohibition.<\/p>\n
At the federal level, the group says cannabis ought to be descheduled \u201cto eliminate the confusion between hemp and cannabis and establish a minimal regulatory structure that can be adapted by individual states.\u201d<\/p>\n
The paper comes on the heels of a letter from attorneys general from 20 states and Washington, D.C. earlier this year that asked congressional leaders to take action on intoxicating hemp products<\/a>. Federal lawmakers should amend the definition of hemp, they wrote, and clarify that states can take their own measures to regulate the plant and its derivative products.<\/p>\n Only a handful of states have taken steps to independently regulate intoxicating hemp products\u2014among them, Minnesota<\/a>, Massachusetts<\/a>, Florida<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0South Dakota<\/a>.<\/p>\n California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D), who signed the new letter, said in a press release that \u201cour children deserve better.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe 2018 Farm Bill, however well-intentioned, created a loophole that has led to the proliferation of products, often containing synthesized cannabinoids, that are more intoxicating than legal and regulated cannabis products,\u201d he said. \u201cThese products often take the form of candy and are designed to appeal to young people and children. California prohibits intoxicating cannabinoids in hemp products, whether naturally derived or synthetic.\u201d<\/p>\n Congressional researchers cautioned last November that\u00a0varying policy priorities among industry stakeholders could make the task of updating the federal Farm Bill more difficult<\/a>.<\/p>\n Regardless of the strict legal definition dividing marijuana and hemp, what\u2019s available on the market is harder to definitively distinguish. A recently published analysis of smokable hemp products by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) found that the vast majority of samples\u2013about 93 percent\u2014contained more than 0.3 percent THC, meaning they in fact qualified as federally illegal marijuana<\/a>.<\/p>\n U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also put out a solicitation in 2022 seeking portable marijuana analyzers to quickly identify cannabinoid profiles<\/a>\u00a0and help distinguish between marijuana and hemp.<\/p>\n USDA last month\u00a0announced a new hemp \u201croadmap,\u201d which includes a call for a public\u2013private hemp consortium<\/a> to streamline research into hemp products. The agency also recently approved a new genetically modified version of hemp that does not produce THC or CBD but is designed to have higher levels of the cannabinoid CBG. It\u2019s at least the second type of genetically modified hemp to get the OK after another modified plant, which produces lower levels of THC and CBC<\/a>, was approved in October.<\/p>\n Read the full D4DPR position paper<\/a> below:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Biden \u2018Not Doing Enough\u2019 To Protect State Marijuana Laws, Congressman Says As Feds Seize Products From Licensed Businesses<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Brendan Cleak.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Time To Regulate Hemp-Derived Cannabinoids More Like Marijuana, Physician Advocacy Group Says<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A group of physicians who support drug policy reform say in a new position paper on the widespread accessibility of delta-8 THC and certain other cannabinoids derived from federally legal hemp that further regulation of the lesser-known chemicals is crucial in order to protect public health. \u201cOur understanding of theseContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74180"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74180"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74181,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74180\/revisions\/74181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Time To Regulate Hemp-Derived Cannabinoids More Like Marijuana, Physician Advocacy Group Says<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"