NASCAR has a delta-8 sponsor, and Washington issues new D-8 rules

Good morning and welcome to Leafly’s delta-8 THC news roundup.

Delta-8 is considered “marijuana light”—it’s only one atom different from delta-9 THC, which is still prohibited in most states. But due to a loophole in hemp legalization, hemp-derived CBD that’s chemically converted into delta-8 is legal is many states with marijuana prohibition. That’s triggered a gold rush as the hemp industry moves to satisfy Americans’ high demand to get high.

Is delta-8 THC still legal in your state, or even county? What’s the science say about safety? What do consumers report? Delta-8 news comes out daily, as regulators seek to keep pace with novel products legalized alongside hemp. What about THC-O, or other novel cannabinoids synthesized from the CBD in hemp?

The answer is anything but simple or static. Here’s your Leafly delta-8 update for February.

‘Is delta-8 still legal?’ — Updates

The rules on D-8 are going to be changing a lot this year. But we’re tracking them and here’s what you need to know.

• Washington state regulators enacted delta-8 rules that take effect Feb. 5, 2022. It looks like they’re using new vaping additives rules to handle D-8 questions—essentially asserting the power to keep out harmful “additives, solvents, ingredients or compounds used in the production of marijuana products and prohibit use of substances determined to pose a risk to public health or youth access.” What’s this mean for D-8 in the Seattle streets? Very little for right now. Buy tested and legal in licensed Washington stores.
  
• Kansas re-illegalized delta-8 THC by Attorney General’s decision in December.
  
• New York and Michigan have specifically restricted: delta-8, delta-10, THCV, THC-O, and delta-6a10a. The rest of the cannabinoids have the same legal status as CBD/hemp for now.
  
• Texas: A District Judge halted the state’s ban on D-8 in December. The state’s Health Department stayed mute on D-8 in January, Axios Reports. Head shops in Texas are officially in limbo pending appeals hearings.
  
• Ohio has moved to restrict D-8 as well as D-1, -6, -3, -4, and -10 by classifying them all as a type of THC—a controlled substance in the state. The rule would also apply to “any other cannabinoid that the Department determines to have an intoxicating or psychoactive effect.” But it’s still a free-for-all in Ohio, the Dayton Daily News reports. “The Dayton Daily News found delta-8 THC products for sale at gas stations, liquor stores, smoke shops, vape shops, corner stores, markets and convenience stores all across the region.”
  
• Georgia continues to consider possession of D-8 and D-10 felonies.
  
• Delta-8 often contains impurities like Delta-9, which means you can still catch a case for it in places like Minnesota.

D-8 news roundup

• D-8 comes to NASCAR this month with news that leading maker 3CHI has sponsored the race car of Tyler Riddick this season. “Childress is now the first team with a sponsorship from a company that is in the business of gummies and other edibles.”

• Did a glut of aging hemp trigger the D-8 wave? MJ Biz Daily thinks so. “CBD prices dropped from $25,000 per kilogram to as little as $500 after the Farm Bill’s passage.” The collapse in hemp CBD prices made it profitable to convert CBD to Delta-8.
  
• The first large, official survey of Delta-8 users found: “Most experienced a lot or a great deal of relaxation (71%); euphoria (68%) and pain relief (55%).” The Journal of Cannabis Research published this report in February, surveying 521 D-8 users found on Reddit, and social media channels and email newsletter rolls of D-8 manufacturers—a pretty biased user base. Most users also experienced “a moderate amount or a lot of cognitive distortions such as difficulty concentrating (81%), difficulties with short-term memory (80%), and alerted sense of time (74%);” but most also “did not experience anxiety (74%) or paranoia (83%).”
• The above study, dubbed“Delta-8-THC: Delta-9-THC’s nicer younger sibling?,” by Jessica S. Kruger and Daniel J. Kruger—researchers from the University at Buffalo and the University of Michigan—also captured exactly how people are using delta-8. Pretty much any way they can: 64% ate it in edibles; 48% vaped it as hash, wax, dabs, oil, etc.; and 23% used tinctures (32%); some 23% reported smoking delta-8-THC concentrates; and 18% smoked it on bud or flower.
  
• D-8 users are flexible, too. “Most participants (83%) also reported consuming delta-9-THC cannabis and products.” About 59% of respondents substituted D-8 for a prescription drug.

• But wait, other members of the same Reddit board used for survey respondents were less enamored of delta-8’s side effects. After smoking 55 grams of D-8 in 10 months, one user reports, “My memory has significantly degraded. At night i’d have to really sit there and think to tell you what I had done that day. A lot of times when I talk i’ll mess up my words constantly. I have to pause mid sentences to think of what i’m even trying to say. I feel so dumb all the time. I hate feeling like this.”
  
• Cannabis prohibition state Wisconsin is a D-8 Wild West: “anyone can release products that aren’t properly labeled.” … “I pray for regulation in this industry, [where] we’re able to ensure a consistent, quality, safe product,” he says. “Then, the people should flood in. [But] it hasn’t happened yet.”

Delta-8 product reviews

Looking for good D-8 product recommendations? So are we. Here are actual independent reviews, as opposed to paid advertising.

• The tabloid OK Magazine is making D-8 product picks now. They like: Plain Jane Delta 8 Vape Cartridge – Pineapple Express; Boston Hempire Delta 8 High Life Vape Cartridge – Gorilla Glue; and Boston Hempire Delta 8 High Life Vape Cartridge – Mango Sativa.

THC-O news and reviews

• Chicago has a thriving, low-tax THC-O scene in headshops, the Sun Times reports. … Testing standards for ‘trendy cannabinoids’ might be coming this year. “Since they’re unregulated, the products don’t come with the high taxes of legal weed, which can add up to more than 25% of the total bill.”
• A Florida lab has started offering commercial tests for THC-O purity.

And that’s it for Leafly’s monthly delta-8 news roundup. We’ll keep an eye on the topic and see you next month for more.