“A series of April raids conducted by the Drug Task Force at the direction of Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams netted nearly 7,200 products worth $300,000 from 25 stores,” noted LNP | LancasterOnline’s Jack Panyard in Sunday’s “Lancaster Watchdog” column.
“According to Adams, the task force issued notices to 43 stores, including smoke and supplement shops and convenience stores, as well as hemp growers in the county, warning them that products containing Delta 8 and Delta 10 are illegal. Adams said anyone caught producing or selling them after the seizures could be charged with possession of a controlled substance and receive up to a year in prison and a $5,000 maximum fine; or possession with intent to sell and receive up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $15,000.”
Sunday’s “Lancaster Watchdog” column asked an important question: Did county District Attorney Heather Adams have the law on her side when she ordered the seizure of gummies, oils, vapes and other products that contained the Delta 8 and Delta 10 varieties of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive chemical compound in marijuana and hemp?
Fully grasping the complexities raised by this question would seem to require a degree in agricultural chemistry.
Clarity is needed, not at least because as a Holtwood hemp grower told the “Lancaster Watchdog,” the THC seizures harm the image of hemp growers. His business processes CBD, or cannabidiol, a chemical compound found in hemp that does not have psychoactive — that is, mind-affecting — properties.
Let’s break down Panyard’s reporting in the “Watchdog” column.
— The Delta 9 strain of THC “is the kind most commonly found in marijuana, which has legal medicinal uses in Pennsylvania, and hemp, a plant similar to marijuana that has lower THC levels and a variety of industrial uses including the manufacturing of food and textiles.”
Both the federal Farm Bill and Pennsylvania’s Farm Bill define hemp as a plant in the cannabis family that has a Delta 9 THC content of 0.3% or less.
Delta 8 and Delta 10 are usually produced synthetically, generally manufactured from hemp.
— While legalized in neighboring states, recreational marijuana remains illegal in Pennsylvania. And, in fact, buying and selling marijuana has been illegal in the United States since 1971 under the federal Controlled Substances Act. It is classified as a Schedule I substance, which means, according to the federal government, it has a high potential for abuse.
The Delta 8 and Delta 9 THC strains are specifically listed as Schedule I substances.
— “When legislators revised the federal Farm Bill in 2018 (it gets revamped every five years), they distinguished hemp from marijuana. The revision made hemp legal to produce and sell and defined it as a plant in the marijuana family that has a Delta 9 THC content of 0.3% or less.”
The law legalized all parts of the hemp plant, including seeds, acids, derivatives, extracts and isomers — chemical variants of THC — like Delta 8 and Delta 10.
— So the Farm Bill and the Controlled Substances Act contradict each other. And in the absence of clarity, states have been deciding whether to allow individual THC strains.
Therein lies the confusion.
“Because the law makes no mention of Delta 8 or Delta 10, producers of those THC strains maintain they are legal,” the “Lancaster Watchdog” noted. “But state police insist Delta 8 and Delta 10 have been illegal in Pennsylvania for decades.”
According to the state Controlled Substances, Drugs, Device and Cosmetic Act, THC varieties “Delta 1, 3, 4 and 6” — each designating a THC strain with psychoactive properties — are illegal.
Deb Calhoun, director of the Scientific Services Division of the Pennsylvania State Police, said that the state’s controlled substances act simply used different terms for the exact same chemical compounds. “Delta 6”? That’s Delta 8. And “Delta 3 and Delta 4”? Those are now known as Delta 10.
How are people supposed to know that?
We’re not defending the sales of products containing these substances. We're sure that the lack of legal clarity is being exploited by some THC product makers. And we find it sketchy that some of these products — including knockoff versions of Nerds Rope candy and Cookie Crisp cereal — are so blatantly marketed to children. As DA Adams noted, calls to poison control increased in Pennsylvania last year because of children ingesting THC products. Students in five Lancaster County school districts have been caught with Delta 8 and Delta 10 products.
Targeting kids in the marketing of THC products is reckless and inexcusable.
But we can understand why business owners might be confused (and not only those who have gotten high on their own supply).
So we’re left with a few more questions.
— Why hasn’t the Pennsylvania Legislature made the law on THC strains and products clearer? Why hasn’t Congress? If children are being sickened by these products, it ought to be a legislative priority.
— Why isn’t there more concern about the marketing of THC products — as well as alcohol and tobacco products — to kids?
— Why aren’t the brands being co-opted by THC edible makers defending their brands more rigorously?
“Ruffles” potato chips laced with illegal forms of THC were among the products seized by the Lancaster County Drug Task Force. A Frito-Lay spokesperson told an NBC affiliate in Tampa, Florida, that “Frito-Lay does not manufacture edible cannabis snack products and any packaging containing THC claims is not associated with our company or brands. We continue to pursue entities selling products which create consumer confusion by illegally infringing on our trademarks and packaging design.”
That was in 2021.
The LNP | LancasterOnline Editorial Board has argued consistently against the legalization of recreational marijuana, but in favor of its decriminalization (and in strong support of medical marijuana). We don’t believe lives should be ruined by incarceration over possession of small amounts of weed, but we also don’t believe making it freely available is a good idea.
Whatever happens on that score, lawmakers must clear up the confusion over the legality of certain THC strains and products — and the sooner, the better.
