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The cannabis industry may have a hemp problem, according to lawmakers across the U.S. Over the last few years, intoxicating THC-laden hemp products have proliferated. These companies utilize a perceived loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill to manipulate compliant hemp until it contains an intoxicating amount of THC. These products are increasingly popular, especially in states with no legal weed.
The rising popularity and lack of knowledge about how hemp THC is made has led some state lawmakers to ban the products altogether. Others have opted to regulate the vapes, edibles, and topicals. Public safety is at the helm of lawmaker arguments against intoxicating hemp, but most may be missing the mark. Few understand the dangers that could hide inside these products, and there are currently no regulations to stop people from consuming them.
Research that went live today out of Michigan shows that even regulated products are potentially at risk.
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Is hemp THC different from adult-use cannabis?
Truly knowing hemp-THC comes down to chemistry. Chemist Josh Swider, co-founder of Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs, explained that Cannabis sativa can create four enantiomers. Cannabis plants produce these mirror-image molecules in specific ratios. The study that discovered this tested ten hemp plants and Type 1 plants (those found in dispensaries and bought from street dealers).
Type 1 weed most often contains the enantiomer negative-trans-delta-9 THC and no cis-delta-9-THC. Hemp plants do not have that enantiomer combo and produce their own ratio with more cis-THC. While it is possible that the strain with a different ratio has yet to be discovered, this understanding is supported by many cannabis chemists.
Robert Welch, director of the National Center for Cannabis for Research and Education, discussed the science of this enantiomer theory that Swider backs. He ran it by two chemists at the research facility before speaking with GreenState.
“He’s correct,” Welch confirmed. “That’s pretty much right on the money.”
Those are the ratios naturally produced in hemp THC products, but synthesized ones tell a different story.
All about synthesized THC
When synthesized, theories assert that cis-THC shows up at a different ratio, more like 10 to one with negative-trans-THC. This type of hemp-derived THC is generally CBD extract that has been chemically altered into THC. In a lab, Swider believes these enantiomers indicate what type of THC is in each product–but that is not all.
THC synthesization can leave byproducts behind in the cannabis vapes and edibles. Swider finds iso-delta-8-THC in all of the samples he deems synthesized. Chemists agree that it is a potential impurity from a synthesizing process. There are no documented safety issues with iso-delta-8. It is only one of almost 30 byproducts that Swider has detected in synthesized hemp-derived THC.
“We overlaid a bunch of cannabis distillate runs on top of the synthetic spectra and saw an additional 35 to 40 peaks that are not showing up in cannabis, but in pure, synthetic, delta-9-THC,” Swide shared with GreenState.
Iso-delta-8 was one of these peaks, a word to describe unknown compounds in the sample. While many remain unidentified, one is particularly concerning.
Michigan, synthetic cannabis, and what comes next
Michigan for Safe Cannabis Coalition (MiSCCo), a group of cannabis operators and owners with Swider at the helm, recently announced results from the first audit of adult-use products. They purchased 45 samples of distillate vapes from the Michigan market to test whether they were truly safe for consumption.
The sampling process covered 22 of the top 30 brands in the state. They purchased two products from each brand directly from licensed retailers. Each was verified, sealed, photographed, logged, and tested. A total of 10 grams was collected from each product to have enough material to analyze.
Five of the brands are in MiSCCo. All member samples passed 100 percent of regulatory tests. Of the remaining 35 products, 14 percent contained banned MCT oil, which was linked to the vape scare of 2019, 11 had more than the legal amount of delta-8 THC, and one sample failed for multiple pesticides above the allowed levels. Each of these compounds has shown potential health risks when inhaled.
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There was also an issue with synthetic enantiomer levels. 54 percent of the non-member samples have a ratio of THC enantiomers that indicates it is synthetic delta-9 THC, a compound that has been banned in the state since 2012. 26 percent of that alleged synthetic crop also contained p-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA), a chemical catalyst in textile dyes, cleaning products, and paints.
Safety data on the acid states that it could cause severe skin burns, eye damage, or respiratory irritation. PTSA was not found in all samples, but the risk indicates it should probably be in none. MiSCCo presented this information to the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) through the formal complaint portal and described the regulatory body as “willing to listen.”
Moving forward with weed, hemp, THC, and the lot
The group will continue pushing for safer products through similar initiatives and is keen on inviting the brands who tested clean to join the coalition. As for regulators, the CRA was not immediately available to comment. However, a similar infraction took four years from the complaint until the company lost its license.
While due process might have started, it could take time before these specific vapes are off store shelves.
There is no perfect answer for how to regulate the hemp space and adult-use cannabis together. State lawmakers continue passing legislation on the topic that they believe best serves their constituents. Perhaps they are bypassing a few glaring risks.
While they figure it out, consumers should try to purchase hemp products with a verified chain of custody. This indicates where hemp was sourced from and might protect people from consuming synthesized THC. Until testing standards meet up with the current need, the best bet is to avoid synthesized THC.
Lawmakers interested in properly regulating these compounds should understand precisely what they are and how to chemically read them. These theories open new vital areas of inquiry for maintaining public safety as people explore the wide world of weed.
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“}]] In Michigan, synthetic cannabis was banned in 2012, but that hasn’t stopped some regulated companies from synthesizing THC from hemp. Read More
