Some interesting things have happened in the cannabis industry over the past year. But before we dig into what’s coming next (hold on – it’s going to disrupt cannabis), let’s cover where we’re at.

In 2014, when the U.S. first defined hemp as a different version of cannabis, the crop was approved for legal cultivation as Limited fiber and seed research crops.

However, it didn’t take long for research firms and institutions to discover that other players in the cannabis space have recently been Breed low THC, high CBD varieties Cannabis that may qualify as marijuana.

The economic opportunities for hemp fiber and seeds are exciting, but early analysis proves that the industry needs to be fairly mature – or heavily subsidized – to sustain fiber and seed Grow, because we already import these goods at very low prices, and the cost of “growing it yourself” is much higher.

USDA’s Economic Feasibility Assessment Later Confirms What Everyone in the Industry Already Knows. In the absence of a real market for fiber and seeds, farmers are looking elsewhere.

Enter the Central Business District

CBD, a cannabinoid that has a little-known but fairly immediate market, is gaining national attention, and can be produced under cannabis programs running nationwide.

What started out as a fiber and seed crop quickly turned into a full-fledged CBD project.

By the time 2018 Farm Bill signed into law, CBD industry demand is exploding.

The Farm Bill itself has changed some language reflecting the shift in focus. In some parts of the farm bill, terms like “industrial hemp” were dropped in favor of “hemp” and they favored cannabinoid crops over fiber and seeds.

Most of the varieties grown in 2018 produced cannabinoids and were high in CBD, and for a while, the prospects for new markets looked bright.

This Food and Drug Administration, however, throws a wrench into the works. By previously approving Epidelex in June 2018, the FDA was caught in a ditch: The FD&C Act contains a provision that would not allow the drug to be added to a food or dietary supplement unless the drug was previously present in the food or dietary supplement. A dietary supplement before it became a drug. IE, since it is a drug in the first place, it cannot be added to food or dietary supplements.

FDA complicates market

The FDA makes a bold statement that effectively stops the CBD train from running.

All the large players in the food and dietary supplement space that would have jumped in and created demand in the supply chain have backed off, leaving only the existing, risk-friendly players in the space.

With great expectations, crop production in 2018 far exceeded industry needs. In addition to hemp being overproduced, the industry assumes that larger players want to use THC-free CBD as an input material, and CBD isolates are produced by the ton.

With millions of pounds of marijuana unsold and no buyers for hundreds of thousands of kilograms of CBD isolate on the market, it’s no surprise what happened next: prices plummeted.

Commodity prices for hemp and hemp derivatives, such as CBD isolates, began to drop significantly in late 2018. This, combined with the industry’s relentless enthusiasm for cannabis, proves the perfect breeding ground for innovation. Enter Delta-8 THC.

Delta-8 THC revives the industry

Delta-8 THC, an isomer of Delta-9 THC (the THC version commonly found in cannabis to date), has shown some economic promise. With an abundance of CBD isolates, no need to buy any, and old-fashioned American ingenuity, Industry figures out how to convert CBD isolate to Delta-8 THC via chemical synthesis.

Delta-8 THC is as intoxicating as its proverbial brother, Delta-9 THC, but to a much lesser extent. The typical dose of Delta-9 THC in recreational pharmacies is 10 mg, while Delta-8 needs to be closer to 25 or 30 mg to achieve a similar effect.

Essentially, the industry sees Delta-8 as a legal narcotic derived from hemp and protected by the 2018 Farm Bill, the industry’s savior. For a while, it did. Delta-8 sales are exploding, demand is high, and there seems to be no end in sight.

Delta-8 hits a snag

However, the explosion was not without obstacles. In the absence of regulatory oversight, Delta-8 is ripe for problems. First, as in the unregulated market, manufacturers are cutting corners and producing questionable safe products.

Unknown isomers and residual chemicals remain in the final product. This issue alone is enough to draw recent attention from the FDA and CDC. issue a statement.

Due to a lack of testing standards (or lack of concern for some people), the amount of Delta-9 THC is often higher than the legal amount.

These issues, combined with a lack of child-resistant packaging, blatant marketing to children and poor labeling, have led to several states together banning the production, sale or distribution of Delta-8.

From this article, Delta-8 banned in 18 states, 4 of which are considering similar regulations more seriously.

With some markets closed, manufacturers cutting corners (and costs), and an unregulated market, competition has begun again, Despite growing demand.

Delta-9 THC is making a comeback

With the issues surrounding the Delta-8, the industry’s innovators are back on the drawing board. As early as January 2021, manufacturers in the space began producing full-spectrum CBD products with higher milligrams of Delta-9 THC than products on the market at the time.

trojan horse marijuanaThe first company to market such a product nationwide, launched a fruit spread in January containing 10 mg of Delta-9 THC and 250 mg of CBD per tablet.

After testing the market, they settled on a 10:1 ratio of CBD to THC (10 mg Delta-9 THC and 100 mg CBD), and their flagship gummies are still available today.

“There are now manufacturers that make cleaner Delta-8 products, but they are few and far between. We decided to avoid isomerization or transformation entirely and stick to plant-derived phytocannabinoids in our products,” Fontes added road.

How is Delta-9 legal?

when. . .when Farm Bill passed in 2018, which legalizes Delta-9 THC in the form of cannabis, as long as the concentration of Delta-9 is at or below 0.3% dry weight (format added for emphasis):

Subtitle G-Hemp Production

Securities and Exchange Commission. 297A.> Definition

In this subtitle:

(1) Cannabis—The word “marijuana” means plant marijuana

L. and any part of the plant, including its seeds and

All derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts,

and salts of isomers, whether grown or not, with delta-9

THC concentration does not exceed 0.3%

dry weight.

This is further reiterated DEA’s own interim final rule (formatting added for emphasis):

“To meet the definition of “marijuana”, therefore eligible for a Schedule I exemption, Derivative Must not exceed 0.3% ?9-THC limit.“

In other words, any hemp-derived product, derived from a legal hemp harvest and later turned into a consumer product—as long as its dry weight Delta-9 THC remains below 0.3%—is considered a hemp product and is therefore not exempt from subject to the Controlled Substances Act.

In cases like the gummies sold by Trojan Horse Cannabis, the concentration of Delta-9 THC is close to 0.2%: well below the required 0.3%.

Also, while this may seem like a crazy leak, in fact, the industry has been selling Delta-9 THC since 2014. All full-spectrum products contain some Delta-9, and products and manufacturers often use the term “trace,” which adds up.

Popular full-spectrum tinctures from well-known brands such as Lazarus Natural almost 2 mg per ml of tincture. This means that each bottle already contains 60 mg of Delta-9 THC.

.

“Retail stores often tell us that they cannot sell Delta-9 THC at their locations. In rare cases, this is true. However, wherever full spectrum is sold, Delta-9 THC is also already being sold,” Fontes said. “We usually get over this hurdle by asking store owners if they currently sell any full-spectrum CBD products, then we break down the COA and do the math. Owners are often surprised to find that they’re already selling bottles that contain 60 mg or more of Delta-9 THC , and have been selling for years.”

bad actors have moved in

As of this writing, several companies are now offering these high-dose, cannabis-derived Delta-9 products, and like everything else in the cannabis industry to date, bad actors are taking advantage of the lack of regulatory oversight.

With Delta-8 bans in several states, regulators have the foresight to add language that bans all future conversions. For example, in Colorado, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment takes this into account in regulatory changes:

“…Chemical modification or transformation of any naturally occurring cannabinoid from industrial hemp non-compliant Has a statutory definition of “industrial hemp product”. This includes any process that converts industrial cannabinoids, such as CBD isolate, delta-9, delta-8, delta-10-THC or other THC isomers or functional analogs.“

Although regulations have cracked down on isomerized cannabinoids, several companies in the space are actually making their Delta-9 THC from CBD isolate using a similar process used to make Delta-8 THC. This provides cost savings and supply advantages to these manufacturers, as it is cheaper and more readily available to manufacture Delta-9 THC from CBD.

In addition, some manufacturers are not using existing THC regulations as dosing guidelines, but are already pushing for restrictions. Some companies offer 15 mg and 22 mg THC options without other small amounts of cannabinoids. Others added minors, but labeled “mg of total cannabinoids” without explicitly labeling mg of THC.

Some in the industry see these shortcuts as dangerous. “In order to create a safe marketplace, we cannot allow manufacturers to be reckless in basic consumer safety practices,” said Lucas Beach, CEO of Creative Integrations LLC and maker of such products.

What to look for in a hemp-derived Delta-9 product

In an unregulated market, consumers and shopkeepers have to do some due diligence that should be handled by regulators, and this is no different for cannabis-derived products.

As a consumer or store owner, it is important to review products that interest you. The key things to look out for when buying hemp-derived Delta-9 products are:

• Professional website with contact information;
• The batch number on the product packaging??;
• Clearly label contents and cannabinoids (in milligrams) through the service;
• Full panel COA showing potency as well as chemical residues, heavy metals, microorganisms and mycotoxins;
• COA matching lot number and advertised milligrams;
• Presence of small amounts of cannabinoids (probably only converted to Delta-9 product);
• “Too good to be true” pricing (a converted Delta-9 is cheaper and easier, and the cheap product is most likely to be converted); and
• Educational materials published by the company.

Also, while this is fairly “scientific”, if you really want to dig in (pun intended) and review the supplier, please request the chromatogram from the COA provided. There should not be any unknown or unlabeled peaks. Unknown peaks in the chromatogram represent unknown isomers. Unknown isomer suggests possible conversion from CBD to Delta-9 THC.

As the landscape continues to change, the cannabis industry will continue to innovate and create exciting new products. That’s one of the great things about getting into the industry at this historic moment.However, with new products come new problems, so it’s important to do some research beforehand ingest or invest.