Intoxicating hemp products are now banned in South Dakota after Gov. Kristi Noem signed a law intended to remove from the market all products containing delta-8 THC and other synthetic compounds.
Under the law, production, sales and distribution of “chemically modified or converted industrial hemp” are illegal. The law specifically bans delta-8 THC, delta-9 THC made from hemp, delta-10 THC, THC-O-acetate, HHC, THCP, and “any other THC isomer, analog, or derivative” of industrial hemp.
The new law targets gummies, vape pens, pre-rolled joints and smokable flowers that contain the intoxicating compounds, which are commonly called “diet weed” or “marijuana light.” The products have proliferated in South Dakota and all across the U.S. due to loopholes in the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill.
All of the banned substances are synthetically produced, and most are made by putting CBD from hemp flowers through a chemical process. Health officials have warned that the compounds are not under any federal regulations and are essentially bathtub products. Some have shown wildly varying levels of intoxicants as well as contaminants, and incidences of sickness and hospital visits, and even one child’s death, have been reported.
While the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp and all of its downstream derivatives federally, it failed to account for synthetic, psychoactive outputs that can be made from hemp flowers.
The South Dakota measure unanimously passed the state House of Representatives in January and was nearly unanimous in the Senate last month.
Now banned, “chemically derived cannabinoid(s)” are defined as “a chemical substance created by a chemical reaction that changes the molecular structure of any chemical substance derived from the cannabis plant.”
The definition does not include cannabinoids extracted by natural methods, “non-psychoactive cannabinoids” or “cannabinoids in a topical cream product.”
The law defines “industrial hemp product,” as “a finished manufactured product, or consumer product made from industrial hemp with a total delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than three-tenths of one percent (0.3%), derived from or made by processing industrial hemp.”
Those who violate the law could get up to one year in jail, a $2,000 fine, or both.
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