Tennessee Governor Signs Bill Regulating Delta-8-THC

While medicinal and adult-use cannabis remain illegal in Tennessee, it’s fairly easy to find hemp-derived delta-8 THC products marketed as psychoactive, including e-cigarettes and dabs. But a new bill will regulate delta-8 THC products for adults 21 and older with testing and control requirements.

Majority Leader in the House of Representatives William Lamberth (R-Portland) and Senator Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville) introduced a bill on Jan. 25 to regulate products containing hemp-derived cannabinoids such as delta-8 and delta-10 THC Second Such a bill was presented once.

Gov. Bill Lee (R-Tennessee) signed the bill regulating delta-8 THC products in a manner similar to cannabis products. Senate Bill 0378 and associated House Lower House Bill 0403 will introduce a tax and regulate cannabinoids derived from hemp through so-called synthetic processes.

The bill ensures that delta-8 THC products and other hemp-derived products are controlled by the Department of Agriculture.

While cannabis has trace amounts of delta-8-THC in the wild, in order to get high from the compound, “high levels of delta-8-THC are artificially produced by mixing CBD or delta-9-THC through a process known as isomerization is chemically transformed,” explains NORML’s Dale Gieringer.

It often involves potentially hazardous residues that could be avoided if products were regulated in a similar way to products made with cannabis-derived cannabinoids.

“Delta-8 has been completely unregulated to date, and the bill is intended to reassure the public and consumers that the product they are buying is what it says it is, that it contains no harmful substances,” Senator Briggs said. “We will not sell it to people under the age of 21.”

“We started out by having a side that says, ‘Let’s not do anything.’ There’s the other side that says it should be banned,” Senator Briggs said. “By working together, we were able to meet in the middle.”

Briggs’ co-sponsor simply wanted Delta-8 THC products to remain out of the reach of minors.

“Delta-8 is a legal substance that can be sold and packaged in the form of candy or jelly beans; it often has a very high concentration of THC,” explained Rep. Lamberth. “There are no regulations and no legitimate way for anyone to know exactly what they are buying. Nothing in our current law prohibits a child from purchasing Delta-8.”

New rules for hemp-derived cannabinoids in Tennessee

The bill will ban the sale of hemp-derived cannabinoid products to anyone under the age of 21; Collect an additional 5% sales tax on each product sold in a store; and create a licensing, quality control, regulatory, and enforcement process through the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.

The bill will establish regulations to ensure inspection and packaging requirements. Companies are tested by a third-party lab and are required to package their products in child-resistant packaging.

“Basic food-grade stuff,” Devin Aracena, co-founder and CEO of CANVAST Supply Co., told WKRN. “The same standard you would expect in a grocery store for packaged foods, we will hold to these products as well.”

Some hemp vendors in the state support the new law.

Aracena has partnered with Cultivate Tennessee, a coalition of companies and professionals promoting cannabis and hemp, to help draft the legislation.

Tennessee House Representative GA Hardaway is supporting the bill on the House side, telling ABC 24 that this is what hemp companies need to do if they want to be taken seriously.

“This gives us an opportunity to get serious about hemp and CBD oil and get our foot in the door to start a real discussion -[an] “An intelligent discussion — about marijuana,” Hardaway said.