A new report claims to reveal the extent of illegal intoxicating hemp-derived THC products widely available in the U.S. state of Missouri.
Under federal and state law, products that contain 0.3% or less THC are considered hemp; above that limit and products are considered marijuana.
But under a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill, legal and non-intoxicating CBD derived from hemp can be manipulated to create various forms of THC such as Delta 8, Delta 10, THC-P, THCO Acetate and HHC. This has seen some companies cashing in while avoiding taxes, more stringent regulation and costly compliance requirements.
This is not only a consumer safety issue, but impacts the local legal cannabis industry, made up of 500+ small businesses directly employing 20,000+ Missourians, and serving more than 125,000 patients and close to one million adult use customers.
MoCannTrade is an association of Missouri cannabis business owners and professionals. To demonstrate the extent of the problem, MoCannTrade sent 55 products from smoke shops, gas stations and unlicensed dispensaries across the state to licensed Missouri testing labs. The results have been posted on a new website dedicated to the issue, MissouriHempHoax.
According to the group, lab reports indicate 96% of the products tested weren’t legal hemp, but instead met the definition of marijuana or contained synthetic THC, which is federally illegal regardless of its source.
“This report shows a blatant disregard for the law and for the health and safety of Missouri consumers,” says MoCannTrade.
Most products contained total THC levels of between 10% and up to a whopping 80%. 16 of the 55 products also failed for dangerous contaminants such as heavy metals, pesticide or residual solvents.
“Sometimes the biggest lies are hiding in plain sight,” says the group. “With each passing month, more and more unscrupulous actors are flooding the market with unlicensed marijuana and calling it hemp, or selling packaging attractive to children but contains intoxicating designer drugs in the name of hemp.”
MoCannTrade says banning or restricting such products would not negatively impact legitimate Missouri hemp farmers, as most of the intoxicating products are sourced from outside Missouri — and at times, outside the country.
The full Missouri Hemp Hoax report can be downloaded here.
Another “hemp hoax” report was released earlier this year by the San Diego/Imperial Counties Joint Labor Management Cannabis Committee, which found a similar situation in California.
