A deal to end the 41-day government shutdown is running into turbulence, thanks to a single Senate objection: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). Senate Republican and Democratic leaders say they need to resolve Paul’s objection to a provision in the government funding package before they can accelerate consideration of the bill. The provision would restrict the unregulated sale of intoxicating hemp-based products.
Adding this comment because it’s very clear to me that most people have a really poor understanding of hemp-derived THC products in general.
Delta-8 THC is an unregulated cannabinoid that can be made by converting CBD through a chemical process. But hemp also contains Delta-9 THC, which is the same thing that would come in the recreational or medical cannabis you’d get in a legal state. The limitation is that the products are only allowed to contain up to 0.3% Delta-9 THC by volume. The funny workaround here is that products like edibles and drinks can easily still contain a recreational dose of Delta-9 THC while staying well below 0.3% THC by volume. This has created a legal market for THC products which this legislation is threatening.
I’ll go one further for you.
Now there is THCa on the market that when you heat it - you know by smoking it or whatever your method of choice - literally turns into Delta-9 THC. Some light reading on it.
So there is this really odd legal gray area now. I think it should be abundantly clear by now that marijuana should just be fucking legal, it’s readily available all over the place and it being illegal on the federal level is just dumb. It’s safer than alcohol and we have ads for that shit shoved in our faces everywhere we go.
Adding to this that in some markets the unregulated and untested delta-8 products have found their way into places that sell products to kids, like convenience stores whereas the regulated stuff is sold in adults only locations. These delta 8 products threaten the legal market in some places.
This is of course avoiding the issues of improper extraction in the extract part of the market.
They need to do this but in a separate bill that is part of federal legalization of cannabis.
i saw a few delta-8 vending machines in Austin. no idea how they check id.
I just want to add this comment because it’s being discussed, but Delta 8 is much stronger than advertised. I used to smoke everyday and got into dabs for awhile. I stopped cold turkey for years and bought a delta 8 gummy on a whim online because everyone said if you have bad experiences with weed then Delta 8 is the way to go. Let me tell you that shit fucked me up badly.
I was in for a relaxing night just chilling with my girl and watching some foreign horror movie. I had such a strong reaction to Delta 8 that I tried to just lay down and close my eyes. I could feel every word that was spoken in the movie in my chest and fingertips. It was one of the worst weed experiences I’ve ever had. It’s so much stronger than advertised and I only ate half the gummy too. I didn’t have to upload my ID or anything to get it. I’m 100% in favor of full legalization of basically everything and letting adults do whatever the fuck kind of drug they want to do so this isn’t a post to sway anyone against weed or Delta 8. I just wanted to share my experience with it.
Weird, I need to eat like 3 gummies to even feel anything.