House excludes hemp from 2024 Farm Bill draft. What does this mean for delta-8 in Texas?
Consumable hemp product use is sky-high in Texas.
Arguably one of the biggest loopholes in legislation, delta-8 and THCa sales are reaching new heights in Texas as users learn its effects are eerily similar to cannabis.
In just three years, the market for delta-8 THC and other hemp-derived cannabinoids has increased nearly 1,300% from $200.5 million in sales in 2020 to nearly $2.8 billion in 2023, according to a recent report from cannabis analytics firm Brightfield Group. In Texas alone, the number of registered retailers of hemp-derived products jumped from 1,948 in 2020 to more than 7,700 active registrations as of May 2024, according to Texas Tribune.
It might seem straightforward that a successful product should remain on the shelves, but that's not necessarily the prevailing sentiment among U.S. Congress members as they prepare for a new Farm Bill.
How to testify: Senate hearing on delta-8 ban in Texas is next week.
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Why is hemp being debated in the Farm Bill?
For the first time ever, the 2014 Farm Bill included hemp in legislation. The bill included a provision, known as Section 7606, that allowed for the cultivation of industrial hemp for research purposes under certain conditions.
A step further in 2018, the Farm Bill removed hemp from the Controlled Substances, effectively legalizing the cultivation, processing and sale of hemp and hemp-derived products at the federal level. Regulations required that these products be distinct from cannabis and have a "THC concentration of not more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis." The 2018 Farm Bill also authorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish a regulatory framework for hemp production, including guidelines for licensing, testing, and compliance.
However, the inclusion of hemp in the Farm Bill primarily focused on its potential as an agricultural commodity, particularly for fiber, seeds and extracts like CBD. Legislators failed to anticipate the wide array of consumable products made possible by hemp, which contains cannabinoids like delta-8 and THCa.
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As usage of consumable hemp products soars, government officials are now wary. In late March, 21 attorney generals across the U.S. sent a letter to Congressional agriculture committees, urging them to more specifically define hemp products in the new bill.
"As Congress prepares to embark on a new five-year reauthorization of the Farm Bill, we strongly urge your committees to address the glaring vagueness created in the 2018 Farm Bill that has led to the proliferation of intoxicating hemp products across the nation and challenges to the ability for states and localities to respond to the resulting health and safety crisis," the letter states. "The Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 seemed clear at the time in its intentions—reintroducing industrial hemp as an agricultural commodity, while maintaining existing federal prohibitions on cannabis products and their use.
"Nevertheless, bad actors have exploited the 2018 Farm Bill’s definition of hemp, its protection of derivatives of that plant, and a wrongly perceived federal pre-emption against state-level regulation of these products," the letter added.
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What is Delta-8 and THCa?
Delta-8 and THCa, or tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, are both incredibly similar products to the standard THC product that is illegal in Texas.
Both have a slightly different chemical structure than the regular production, delta-9, which is commonly known as marijuana, cannabis, or weed. The only difference between delta-8 and delta-9 is that the location of a double bond occurs on the eighth carbon versus the ninth.
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If excluded, will hemp-derived products like delta-8 become illegal in Texas?
It's not necessarily true that Delta-8 and other hemp-derived products will become illegal if hemp is merely excluded from the upcoming Farm Bill. However, if committee members define the product more tightly, it's possible.
Regardless of its place in the new Farm Bill, state officials are already looking to tighten restrictions on "intoxicating hemp" products. According to a recent report from the American-Statesman, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick released a list last month with a set of legislative directives for the remainder of the year. Among them is revisiting the Senate's 2019 decision that allowed the initial sales of cannabis-derived products in Texas as a new hemp industry in the state emerged.
The American-Statesman added that Patrick specifically wants lawmakers to craft a ban on intoxicating products derived from delta-8 and THCa, which are found in hemp and have a similar, albeit lesser, effect to that of THC, the cannabinoid responsible for the effects of marijuana.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: House omits hemp in Farm Bill draft. Will it impact delta-8 in Texas?
