The question that keeps coming up is, “how is D8 legal?” The quick answer is the Appeals Court Rules that Delta 8 THC products are federally legal just like hemp.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s holding that the 2018 Farm Bill legalized delta-8 THC products derived from hemp.
How is D8 legal? The Appeals Court rules it legal
In this opinion, the Court analyzed the text of the 2018 Farm Bill to determine whether hemp-derived D8 THC was lawful.
The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) definition of “marihuana” as well as tetrahydrocannabinols in hemp.
The court then turned to the definition of “HEMP,” which in full reads as follows:
- The term “HEMP” means the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a Delta-9 [THC] concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.
The Ninth Circuit panel, for its part, noted that although delta-8 THC has “psychoactive and intoxicating effects,” it falls within federal law’s definition of hemp and is therefore legal.
“Regardless of the wisdom of legalizing D8 THC products, this Court will not substitute its own policy judgment for that of Congress,” Judge D. Michael Fisher wrote for the three-judge panel.
If lawmakers inadvertently created a loophole and didn’t intend to legalize psychoactive substances such as Delta-8 THC, Fisher said, “then it is for Congress to fix its mistake.
RECAP
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit wrote in an opinion published in May 2022 that products containing Delta-8 THC are generally legal because federal law defines hemp as “any part of” the cannabis plant, including “all derivatives, extracts, [and] cannabinoids,” that contains less than 0.3 percent Delta-9 THC by weight.
The law, the court said in the 3-0 ruling, “is silent with regard to delta-8 THC.”
About Green Forest Brand – The Green Forest Brand team provides water-soluble HEMP, CBD, and D8 powder for beverages, baked goods, and candies. We provide Deeper Green powder by weight. To talk to the Deeper Green Team, click here.
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