In 2018, the federal government passed the Agricultural Improvement Act, more commonly known the Farm Bill. The bill included legislation to make changes to SNAP, increase funding for conservation efforts, maintain disaster programs, improve crop insurance, and more.
What federal lawmakers didn’t know they had done is inadvertently legalized part of the marijuana plant and the intoxicating products that could come from it.
While Congress caused this problem Missouri and other state legislators are now dealing with the unintentional consequences of the bill.
The bill opened a loophole that has allowed some retailers to sell intoxicating products containing delta-8, which is a psychoactive cannabinoid found in small amounts in the cannabis plant.
As it stands now, hemp products are not subject to regulations and don’t pay the same taxes as marijuana products. This has left law enforcement, the marijuana industry and health advocates asking Congress to close the loophole in the farm bill, while c-stores and hemp businesses have asked to keep the loophole open.
But not all the fuss is down to who pays what taxes and who avoids what regulations. Much of the concern comes from the health issues derived from synthetic delta-8.
While delta-8 is generally less potent than delta-9, synthetically made delta-8 found often in products such as gummies and drinks, has research to show it to be more dangerous than delta-9.
Since it currently remains an unregulated product, unlike marijuana, this allows teenagers or children to purchase items containing delta 8 at their leisure.
From 2021-2022 over 3,300 calls were made, a spike of 82%, to America’s Poison Centers concerning delta-8 products. The FDA also released a warning about delta-8 products in 2022 stating “the public health is at risk and should especially be kept out of reach of children and pets.”
In February 2024 ten students at Sumner High School in St. Louis became ill after eating delta-8 gummies purchased from a local gas station. Four of the students were hospitalized before being released. A month later six elementary-aged children ingested delta-8 products that were labeled as Nerds Rope Bites and Mad Monkey Sour Strawberry Premium Gunnies. One young girl even had trouble walking and believed she was being kidnapped when her parents came to pick her up.
In response to these events, Missouri officials and departments took action. As one of the last acts of his time in office, Governor Mike Parson issued Executive Order 24-10 to remove hemp-derived THC products from stores as well as threatened legal penalties against those who sold the intoxicating products.
Missouri’s Attorney General Andrew Bailey also launched an investigation into whether or not the distributors of these products were violating the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA), which grants Missourians the right to a marketplace free from fraudulent or deceptive business practices.
The Missouri Department of Health and Social Services also issued a statement urging Missouri residents to avoid products containing delta-8.
With multiple departments warning about unregulated delta-8 and hemp products, it seems policymakers agree these products shouldn’t be sold to kids, should be lab tested, should pay the same marijuana taxes, and should be sold in childproof packaging and not look like candies.
The question before Missouri lawmakers comes down to who will do that regulation.
Legislators are currently working on bills to address this issue. One bill being pushed right now is the Intoxicating Cannabinoid Control Act (ICCA) sponsored by Representative Chad Perkins (HB 593) and Senator Nick Schroer (SB 54).
The bill would state that if a product comes from a cannabis plant and is intoxicating, it will be regulated as marijuana under Missouri law, thereby putting that product under the same scrutiny as any other marijuana item. The bill also would tighten the rules regarding its use by children and would prohibit retailers from selling these products to kids.
Representative Ben Baker is sponsoring HB 696 which would implement a new regulatory system for these types of products. The legislation would be at a greater cost to taxpayers with the creation of a new regulating system, which would cost $285 million over three years according to the fiscal note. The bill would also allow vendors to sell these products in gummy form to kids at locations such as gas stations.
With general revenue seeing a decline in January 2025, talks of future tax cuts, and a tightened budget, when deciding between these two possible options lawmakers will most likely opt into a bill that deals with a serious issue but at a lower cost.
Jake Kroesen is a Jackson County native and a graduate of the University of Central Missouri. He holds a B.S. in Political Science.
In 2018, the federal government passed the Agricultural Improvement Act, more commonly known the Farm Bill. Read More
