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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Vermont cracks down on producers of Delta-8
#27287140 - 04/29/21 08:53 PM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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Vermont cracks down on producers of Delta-8 WCAX - April 28, 2021
MILTON, VT - Vermont is among a dozen states that are cracking down on Delta-8, a psychoactive compound processed from hemp that agriculture officials say is not allowed under state law.
When hemp became legal, a frenzy of producers flocked to the industry to make CBD products. But with supply outstripping demand, some processors then began trying to use hemp for other means, including processing Delta-8, a cannabis compound containing THC that is illegal.
Sean O’Hearn, the director of operations at Newton Hill Labs in Milton, specializes in processing hemp into CBD oil, a compound in cannabis that does not have psychoactive effects. But in recent years he and other processors have also been extracting Delta-8, which can be ingested through vaporizers and gummies, though some disagree on whether it’s weaker than marijuana. “We’re taking the same thing but causing a little bit of a molecular shift,” O’Hearn said.
But last week, The Vermont Agency of Agriculture said the creation, possession, of sale of Delta-8 violates the state law banning synthetic cannabinoids in hemp products. “We’re using the term synthetic with respect to it’s not naturally occurring,” said Stephanie Smith, the state’s cannabis quality control policy administrator. She says the state is following the federal drug enforcement administration. “We also determined based on the definition of the term cannabinoid and another section of our rules that manufacturing a cannabinoid that is not naturally occurring in the plant would qualify four our purposes as a synthetic cannabinoid,” said Smith.
On its website, the Ag agency acknowledges that hemp naturally produces Delta-8 in trace amounts. But it also says Delta-8 can be synthetically made from hemp in a process called isomerization, which converts CBD to THC. “Manufacturing delta-8-THC from CBD has become a way to create a psychoactive substance under the guise of being derived from legally produced hemp, which by definition does not have high concentrations of psychoactive cannabinoids,” stated a bulletin from the Agency of Agriculture last week.
O’Hearn and others in the Delta-8 industry disagree with the state’s determination. He says the decision effectively puts Newton Hill out of business. “I really don’t see us being about to continue business past this point,” he said. O’Hearn worries the state’s action will deter farmers, processors, and retailers from setting up shop in Vermont and instead take their businesses to surrounding states that haven’t banned Delta-8. “We’re trying to keep our business alive, we’re trying to keep jobs in Vermont, and we’re trying to move forward. And if we go to New York, New Hampshire, or Massachusetts, all totally doable...” O’Hearn said.
Until now, Delta-8′s legality has been hazy, as the 2018 farm bill allowed people to grow and process and sell hemp and its byproducts in states where cannabis is banned. But the federal law doesn’t specifically ban Delta-8, so states have recently been taking action on their own.
Cannabis advocates describe Delta-8 as a bridge for the industry to keep them afloat until they can take part in the taxed and regulated market next year. “These retailers are trying to stick around long enough until they can legally sell the plants. I think there are some negative impacts on businesses and retailers who won’t be able to use this anymore,” said Eli Harrington with Greenbridge Consulting.
The ag agency’s Smith says the discussion could change when the cannabis control board, the group tasked with rolling out the state’s retail market, is confirmed.
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sk8fast
Tripping skater
Registered: 08/02/10
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Re: Vermont cracks down on producers of Delta-8 [Re: veggie]
#27287608 - 04/30/21 08:29 AM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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Delta-8 does occur naturally, it's their fault for only including the 0.3% delta-9 cap and nothing on delta-8
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Failboat
Fuck Up
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Re: Vermont cracks down on producers of Delta-8 [Re: sk8fast] 1
#27289088 - 05/01/21 11:32 AM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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So lawmakers are as stupid as they are petty
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Amanita86
OTD Keymaster
Registered: 09/26/12
Posts: 89,464
Loc: hades
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Re: Vermont cracks down on producers of Delta-8 [Re: Failboat]
#27289609 - 05/01/21 08:33 PM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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Q4T
-------------------- Orange clock, pencil "They threw me off the hay truck about noon..." *Mark 15:34 Gam zeh ya’avor...
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Holybullshit
Stranger
Registered: 01/06/19
Posts: 1,562
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Re: Vermont cracks down on producers of Delta-8 [Re: Failboat]
#27290142 - 05/02/21 08:51 AM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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Well, while delta-8 does occur naturally in minute amounts, the delta-8 being solid did not occur naturally and was synthetically produced. So while I do not agree with it, and would need to read the letter of the law to guess at how a judge would interpret it, I can see their argument.
Now if they were distilling/extracting D8 straight from hemp, and not converting it from CBD, that'd be a different story.
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durian_2008
Cornucopian Eating an Elephant
Registered: 04/02/08
Posts: 17,584
Loc: Raccoon City
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Re: Vermont cracks down on producers of Delta-8 [Re: Holybullshit]
#27291763 - 05/03/21 09:57 AM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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Calculate the amount of materials and square feet required to grow it. Some of the extracts would require a ridiculously-illegal number of plants, by the math.
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nektar61
Into SporePlay
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Re: Vermont cracks down on producers of Delta-8 [Re: Failboat]
#27299569 - 05/08/21 02:03 AM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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I'm pretty sure whoever wrote the fed Farm Bill, and the template the states used put this smart wording in intentionally, as a loophole.
I I haven't heard anywhere, it just makes sense.
And it's hilarious that Delta 8 is illegal in Colorado. They're probably worried that it's competition for pot. It is cheaper, and doesn't have the paranoia / panic attacks some people get from pot.
-------------------- -NEW? Start here.
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durian_2008
Cornucopian Eating an Elephant
Registered: 04/02/08
Posts: 17,584
Loc: Raccoon City
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Re: Vermont cracks down on producers of Delta-8 [Re: Holybullshit]
#27301690 - 05/09/21 02:25 PM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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I am typically libertarian, among responsible, mental adults. Just saying...
Quote:
Holybullshit said: the delta-8 being solid did not occur naturally and was synthetically produced.
While I would like to think of that as standardized and pure, in a perfect theoretical universe, what has the Shroomery News Service taught us about funky headshop chemicals.
Quote:
Holybullshit said: delta-8 does occur naturally in minute amounts
That would take (maybe, literal) tons of plants.
Some bean counter in charge of zoning is going to create artificial scarcity, in terms of plants and space allowed.
I can't make sense of the numbers, in an economy of scale, unless a state interest is creating a monopoly.
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Holybullshit
Stranger
Registered: 01/06/19
Posts: 1,562
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Re: Vermont cracks down on producers of Delta-8 [Re: durian_2008]
#27304291 - 05/11/21 12:48 PM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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Oh if they were to make it where D8 had to be extracted from hemp and not made from CBD(and this actually affected the market, and wasn't just Vermont) then D8 would disappear, or more likely would just continue to be solid in violation. It would just effectively make D8 illegal in Vermont...I was just talking out my ass anyways, I don't even think that is the argument the State is making. They just aren't even acknowledging that it's a naturally occurring compound afaik, they are just pretending it's a synthetic cannabinoid, forcing everyone to go along, and counting on the fact that no one can stop them.
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Holybullshit
Stranger
Registered: 01/06/19
Posts: 1,562
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Re: Vermont cracks down on producers of Delta-8 [Re: nektar61]
#27304293 - 05/11/21 12:51 PM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
nektar61 said: I'm pretty sure whoever wrote the fed Farm Bill, and the template the states used put this smart wording in intentionally, as a loophole.
I I haven't heard anywhere, it just makes sense.
And it's hilarious that Delta 8 is illegal in Colorado. They're probably worried that it's competition for pot. It is cheaper, and doesn't have the paranoia / panic attacks some people get from pot.
I doubt they were thinking of obscure lower potency THC analogs when they were writing the farm bill. And then the states just copy each other(or have their bills written by the same lobbyists), so they end up with the same loopholes. It's just bureaucracy in action.
But, yes, I absolutely agree that D8 is illegal in Colorado because of lobbying from the legal pot industry.
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Amanita86
OTD Keymaster
Registered: 09/26/12
Posts: 89,464
Loc: hades
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Re: Vermont cracks down on producers of Delta-8 [Re: veggie]
#27305066 - 05/12/21 12:54 AM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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Makes me wonder where all this D8 is being produced...
Hopefully not in Vermont..
-------------------- Orange clock, pencil "They threw me off the hay truck about noon..." *Mark 15:34 Gam zeh ya’avor...
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