The lack of rules for CBD and intoxicating hemp products continues to roil the industry, and sharp debate over policy is expected to continue until late this year following delay of the 2023 Farm Bill.
The final quarter of 2023 saw a flurry of legislative initiatives, regulatory updates and court cases as state and local officials across the country work to reign in the synthetically made, hemp-derived cannabinoids that produce a “high,” and which are not regulated by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
In the most recent development, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine this week reaffirmed that he wants to see legislators move quickly to ban sales of the intoxicating hemp products, lamenting their wide availability in common retail outlets, which he said should be made illegal. DeWine said neither his office nor the police have laws under which they can crack down on the products.
The products, such as delta-8 THC, HHC, THC-P and THC-O, have proliferated in common retail outlets throughout the country, where they are often marketed to youth in packaging that mimics well-known brands of snacks and candy. Also, many producers and sellers have received warnings from the FDA regarding the safety of their products. FDA said it has received reports of serious adverse events from consumers who suffered “hallucinations, vomiting, tremors, anxiety, dizziness, confusion, and loss of consciousness.” At least one child’s death in Virginia was attributed to delta-8 consumption.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration considers the intoxicating hemp products to be federally illegal.
Some states continue to allow the products under a strict interpretation of federal law which legalized industrial hemp and its downstream derivatives. But other court rulings over the past two years have held that legalization of hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill never intended to allow intoxicating psychoactive products, which are made by manipulating hemp-derived CBD in the lab.
“They are buying it in gas stations around the state of Ohio. This is a hole that we have to plug,” Ohio’s DeWine told WLWT TV, Cincinnati.
“We have to make this illegal,” DeWine added. “We’re seeing kids get into cars under the influence of this stuff. And there’s no real regulation of it all. We’ve asked the legislature, and I’m asking them, again, give us the authority to stop this.”
Developments elsewhere, state-by-state: