Delta 8 THC made from industrial hemp flowers is perfectly legal, unlike its cousin, Delta 9 THC, which is commonly found in marijuana plants. As many CBD users know, the hemp plant contains tiny amounts of Delta 9 THC, and full-spectrum CBD products can legally contain less than 3%. Now, some of the same companies extracting Delta 8 are extracting and concentrating Delta 9 derived from hemp.
In states like Colorado with legal, recreational marijuana, this might not be controversial. But, it’s making waves in states that have yet to fully legalize weed, along with Delta 9 THC. If and when these products hit the shelves, people in those states might be able to get “legally” high.
Companies producing Delta 9 from hemp are hedging their bets that creating sublingual products with less than 3% per dose is federally legal. While states like Colorado allow it, federal law prohibits the sale of edibles made with Delta 9 THC. However, the details say nothing about sublingual products.
Of course, while the stated dosage on these products is less than 3%, savvy users will simply double or triple the dose to get a real, THC high.
So, until the federal Farm Bill of 2018 is amended, Delta 9 from hemp appears to be technically legal, at least for now. The wheels of justice move slowly, and it could take months, or even years for both states and the federal government to update their laws to include sublingual, Delta-9 THC derived from industrial hemp.
