In the big — and, in nearly half of US states now, successful — drive to legalize cannabis, two major arguments have been brought to bear. First, that public oversight of a legal industry will assure transparency and standards for quality. And secondly, that a taxed industry will be a boon to state and local economies.
But now a disturbing new study from an industry advocacy group in California indicates that the legal cannabis sector faces a challenge in the proliferation of ostensibly legal but in fact unregulated psychoactive “hemp” products.
And it finds that these products are chock full of synthetic cannabinoids that can be more potent than the natural cannabinoids found in the plant — as well as posing potential health risks.
The 2018 US Farm Bill inadvertently opened this “Pandora’s box” of unregulated novel cannabinoids by legalizing cannabinoids other than Delta-9 THC derived from “hemp” as defined by federal law — that is, cannabis with under 0.3% THC. This was intended as a means of day-lighting CBD, the non-psychoactive (or only very subtly psychoactive) cannabinoid with a purported plethora of curative properties.
But now, the study finds, the novel psychoactive cannabinoids — first employed as a means of staying within the letter of the law while still getting users high — are being used because they can actually get users higher than natural Delta-9. And far from being curative, they may threaten users’ health. And, in a crowning irony, Delta-9 itself is actually being used in these products — despite being illegal under federal law, and under state laws when sold outside of a regulate adult-use cannabis program.
Finally, these products, mostly vended through websites, are effectively dodging the taxman — raising no revenues for state or local governments.
‘Hemp’ not really hemp
The study, entitled “The Great Hemp Hoax,” was released Feb. 10 by the San Diego/Imperial Counties Joint Labor Management Cannabis Committee — made up of UFCW Local 135, and local companies March & Ash and Embarc. Its provocative kicker states: “Much of what’s sold as ‘hemp’ today isn’t hemp at all — it’s a mix of synthetic intoxicants and illicit THC masquerading as a legal, natural product.”
The report’s lead author is Tiffany Devitt of Groundwork Holdings, Inc., the parent company of March & Ash. For the study, Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs of San Diego examined104 “hemp” products — mostly chewable gummies and vapes — purchased online from 68 brands.
Speaking in a Feb. 12 online press conference, Devitt says: “We’ve been watching the hemp industry emerge, and it’s exploded into a marketplace of highly intoxicating products. And the real head-scratcher for us is that hemp is actually a really inefficient plant from which to make naturally psychoactive products.”
This pointed right away to industry corner-cutting.
Following California’s rather confusing official nomenclature, Devitt uses the term “hemp” to refer to those cannabis strains under the 0.3% threshold, and “cannabis” to mean flower from the psychoactive strains (traditionally known by the now disfavored word “marijuana”).
Explains Devitt: “If I’m going to extract or source Delta-9 THC from hemp rather than cannabis, I’m going to need around 50 times more biomass, which means 50 times more acreage, 50 times more labor, 50 times more water, et cetera, et cetera. And the picture for Delta-8 is even more shocking, because there’s less natural Delta-8 THC in hemp than there is Delta-9... If I’m using naturally extracted Delta-8 from hemp, its going to take 19 pounds of biomass to make a two-gram cartridge.”
That raises the question of what exactly is in psychoactive hemp products, which is what the study sought to find out.
It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature
The study defines “chemically synthesized cannabinoids” as compounds made through chemical processes rater than being naturally extracted from the plant. These include synthesized Delta-8 and Delta-9 THC, as well as the novel cannabinoids THCP, THCO, HHC, and others. These latter compounds are designed to mimic the effects of Delta-9 THC, but are often chemically modified to amplify the effects. According to the study, THCP is estimated to be over 30 times stronger than Delta-9 THC.
Devitt says, “This can also mean amplified health risks, and some of the products are more like the synthetic street drug Spice than natural cannabis.”
Spice, also known as K2, is any herbaceous substance treated with synthetic cannabinoids designed by unscrupulous operators to wriggle around the prohibition on Delta-9 THC. As became apparent in the legal an scientific controversies around Delta-8, there is little clear consensus on at what point a compound is deemed “synthetic.” Two related questions are what is the source material (actual cannabis or “hemp,” or not) and how far removed the novel compound is from “natural” cannabinoids through chemical tweaking. There was a spate of hype in the industry a few years ago about synthesizing cannabinoids from yeast.
The report does not explore the question of starter materials. For some perspective on the matter, Project CBD turned to Marc Scialdone, a molecular chemist with Saint Michael’s College in Vermont, who co-authored a paper for the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) in 2023 entitled “The Dark Side of Cannabidiol.” The abstract states: “Decades of cannabis prohibition coupled with the more recent 2018 Farm Bill have lead to several unanticipated consequences and the widespread availability of synthetic cannabinoids derived from hemp CBD, including Δ8-THC, Δ10-THC and HHC.”
Scialdone says he believes the starter materials for these synthetic cannabinoids are indeed phytocannabinoids — that is, those found naturally in the plant. And more specifically, cannabidiol — CBD. It’s moment of fashionability meant that after its legalization (when hemp-derived) in the 2018 Farm Bill unleashed a “glut of CBD.”
“Before the Farm Bill, extracted CBD was $5,000 per kilo; since the Farm Bill, it’s down to $200,” Scialdone says. “The market crashed. There was an incentive to take a material nobody wants to buy and create a product from it that there is a demand for, People want to get high.”
And continuing prohibition of cannabis (by the federal government, and still in 26 states) led to viewing the Farm Bill’s CBD measure as a “loophole” for filling ostensible hemp products with compounds that do indeed get you high — sometimes, ironically, higher than phytocannabinoids.
In any case, California’s Assembly Bill 45, passed in 2021 to authorize the use of hemp-derived cannabinoids in edibles and other commercial products, states: “‘Industrial hemp’ does not include cannabinoids produced through chemical synthesis.”
AB 45 also instated a definition of “Total THC,” adding all “intoxicating” cannabinoids to the sum — not just Delta-9. If the Total THC in a given product exceeds the 0.3% limit, the product is in violation of California’s hemp regulations. It is deemed to be “adulterated” and banned, or is reclassified as “cannabis” and relegated to the more tightly controlled adult-use sector.
Gumming up clarity on gummies
The study tested potency and checked to see if products comply with the legal definition of hemp. Disturbingly, it found that a full 54% of products tested failed to meet the federal hemp standard (based on Delta-9), and 88% failed to meet the California hemp standard (which also includes Delta-8).
A full 95% of products tested contained synthetic cannabinoids, including 97% of vapes and 90% of gummies. Delta-8 was found in 86% of products, Delta-9 in 84%, THCP (which Devitt dubs “uber-strong”) in 47%, HHC% in 34, and THCO in 6%.
Many so-called “hemp” gummies had significantly higher THC levels than permitted in California’s regulated cannabis market, which has a per serving THC cap of 10 milligrams and a per package cap of 100 milligrams. A full 84% of tested gummies exceeded the serving cap, with the average THC per gummy being 89 milligrams. Over a third had between 100 and 325 milligrams. And 81% exceeded the per package cap. Additionally, the package sizes were also themselves often bigger than allowed in the state’s adult-use cannabis market. Devitt says many of the products contained “astonishing levels” of THC.
And these products continue to be available despite emergency regulations proposed by the California Department of Public Health and signed into effect by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September that ban any detectable amount of THC in hemp products (whether Delta-8 or Delta-9).
These emergency regulations have already been challenged in the courts by the US Hemp Roundtable, and been upheld. They remain in effect.
The vape of things to come?
The findings with vapes are even more ominous. A full 97% of vape products tested had synthetic cannabinoids, and often synthetics much stronger than naturally derived THC. The study arrived at “THC equivalency,” based on the greater strength of some of these synthetics. The average equivalency for tested vapes was found to be 2,682 milligrams per cartridge — 268% above California’s limit for THC in adult-use cannabis vape products, which is 1,000 milligrams, and also well above the cap for such products under the state medical marijuana program, which is 2,000. Over half of tested products contained between 2,000 and 14,000 milligrams of THC equivalency per vape. This was mostly attributable to THCP.
Devitt sees serious safety concerns here. “Synthetic cannabinoids do not have the same pharmacological safety profiles as natural cannabinoids,” she says. “With greater potency comes a risk of unintentional over-intoxication, and these risks are amplified by the mislabeling of products, so consumers don’t have a clear idea what they are using.”
She says that products marketed as THCA vapes sometimes contained no THCA but synthetic Delta-8 and THCP. “Consumers really have no idea what it is that they’re vaping in the hemp market,” Devitt says.
Devitt sees a “potential for vape-related lung injuries, as seen in the vape crisis of 2019, as well as strokes, seizure and heart attacks.”
The 2019 crisis saw a disturbing nationwide outbreak of hundreds of lung injuries, some fatal, that researchers link to vaping — either of tobacco products or cannabis concentrates. The culprit was ultimately found to be Vitamin E acetate, added to the cannabis distillate in cartridges to assist in vaporization — despite being hazardous when inhaled.
Such impurities may be winding up in vapes inadvertently. “Synthetic cannabinoids can contain isomers not found in nature,” Devitt says. “And corrosive solvents and heavy metals used in synthesization may also find their way into the end products.”
‘Potency’ now a misleading measure
Devitt draws a distinction between potency and efficacy — the prior referring to the percentage of cannabinoid in a given substance, and the latter to how effectively it activates the Cannabinoid receptor 1 in the human nervous system. It is activation of this CB1 receptor — one of at least three in your body’s “endocannabinoid” system — that send the effects of cannabinoids (whether pleasant or not) throughout your body. Substances that activate or “bind to” these receptors are known as “agonists.”
Reads the report: “Synthetic cannabinoids can be significantly more potent than THC, but potency alone does not determine their impact. The key factor is efficacy — how strongly a substance activates receptors. Unlike natural THC, which is a partial agonist, many synthetic cannabinoids are full agonists, driving receptors to much higher levels of activity.”
The study arrived at a “THC Potency Equivalency Factor” (PEF) “based on each compound’s relative CB1 receptor binding affinity compared to natural delta-9 THC.” THCP was found to have a PEF of 30 — meaning it is 30 times more efficacious at getting you high than its nature cousin Delta-9 THC. In this light, taking into consideration only “potency” — a key focus of adult-use regulation — greatly underestimates the psychoactive punch packed by these products.
Mushroom clouds and kratomic power
Perhaps most surprisingly, the study detected in several products additional psychoactive compounds that have nothing to do with hemp or cannabis at all — including psilocybin mushrooms, or compounds derived thereof. Even in very minute quantities, these clearly may be a shortcut to a longer and stranger trip than the user bargained for.
Found in more of these products was kratom — an herbaceous substance about which there has been some controversy. The report describes it as an “addictive, opiate-like herb.” Yet its advocates tout its ability to help wean users off of opioids. In response to its growing popularity, the DEA announced in 2016 that it would be placed in the restrictive Schedule I — along with cannabis. However, the following year it put off the decision pending further public commentary, in response to an outcry from the herb’s enthusiasts.
Among the products containing kratom are Cheech & Chong’s Kosmic Chews — marketed under the brand name of the infamous counterculture comedy duo. Each Kosmic Chew has 25 milligrams of kratom — as well as 15 milligrams of THC. These are listed on the label, which promises a “deeper high.” However, the fine print notes that “some people have developed kratom dependency after prolonged daily use.”
Brandon Harshbarger, president of Cheech & Chong’s Global Holding Company, contacted by Project CBD, had this to say: “The combination of hemp-derived Delta-9 THC and kratom extract in Kosmic Chews is not inherently dangerous when consumed responsibly. Each ingredient has a well-documented safety profile at the included doses, and there is no evidence of harmful interactions between the two... The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp-derived THC products, and their effects are comparable to those found in regulated cannabis markets. Similarly, kratom has been used for centuries for its mild stimulant and analgesic properties. At 25mg of extract, the dose in Kosmic Chews is well below the levels associated with adverse effects or dependence. Unlike opioids, kratom does not cause respiratory depression, and no evidence suggests it interacts dangerously with THC.”
The 2018 Farm Bill does allow for the sale of hemp products with up to that 0.3% Delta-9 THC, and the Kosmic Chews are within this limit. But Tiffany Devitt, asked for a response to this statement, says: “As Cheech & Chong are well aware, businesses are subject to federal and state laws. In California, THC-infused hemp products are banned. Period. There’s no ambiguity or loophole. There is a bright, clearly delineated line, and they’re crossing it.”
Devitt also takes issue with the claim on the label of Kosmic Chews that the product contains all natural delta-9 THC. The company website boasts: “No synthetic chemicals. Just 100% naturally occurring REAL THC, from American-grown hemp...”
However, Devitt says “Infinite Chemical Testing Lab found their product actually included chemically synthesized THC, which has been prohibited in California hemp products since 2021.”
In any event, it’s clear these products would not pass muster in California’s adult-use sector. The state’s cannabis regulations prohibit “any non-cannabinoid additive that would increase potency, toxicity, or addictive potential.”
Taxation and transparency
What Devitt calls an “incidental finding of the study” is that a full 91% of products were purchased with no state of local taxes.
Says Devitt: “There’s no cannabis excise tax, even though they are selling what can only be called psychoactive cannabis products. This not only deprives the state of tax revenues, but widens the price gap between psychoactive hemp products and cannabis products, to the detriment of the legal adult-use cannabis industry.”
Devitt also sees issues of democracy here. “The legal cannabis market was developed through Prop 64 and a voter mandate,” she says, referring to the 2016 ballot initiative that legalized the herb in the Golden State. “It was crafted to provide accountability and transparency throughout the supply chain — with lab testing, track-and-trace programs and tax collection mandated. The hemp market remains chaotic and opaque.”
Globalized gray market
The report raises special concern about transparency of sourcing the synthetic ingredients. It states: “California’s cannabis industry...supports strong labor protections and well-paying union jobs. In contrast, many ‘hemp’ companies manufacture products out of state or import inputs from China, bypassing labor standards and contributing nothing to California’s workforce.”
Despite its own extremely harsh internal drug laws — which definitely extend to cannabis — China has indeed been seeking to cash in on the cannabis boom, providing hemp for the global CBD market and even starting to extract cannabinoids. We know that Chinese firms have been synthesizing novel cannabinoids, because in May 2021 Beijing’s National Narcotics Control Commission issued an order banning production of synthetic cannabinoids. Although no penalties were announced, a number of big confiscations followed.
However, just a year later, in May 2022, the United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime (UNODC) issued a report finding that a “new generation of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists” were “circumventing legal controls” in China as well as Singapore —apparently, once again, producers were tweaking molecules to stay one step ahead of the law.
Marc Scialdone believes that most synthetic cannabinoids on the market in the US are derived from hemp-extracted CBD produced in the United States. But he acknowledges that the lack of transparency means it’s hard to say. “There’s a commodity market for these compounds,” he says. “It’s like white sugar — when you buy it, you don’t necessarily know where it comes from.”
Fueling anti-cannabis backlash
A final bitter twist to this is that concerns over an essentially unregulated hemp sector appear to be leading to calls to place burdensome restrictions on the regulated cannabis sector.
A dispiriting analysis on Green Market Report on Feb. 18 found: “Marijuana industry advocates pivot to protecting gains made in recent decades.” It noted a rash of bills in several states to raise taxes and permit fees on cannabis business to prohibitive levels, or to ban smokable flower from medical marijuana programs. And it states: “The political backlash has been fueled in large part by the burgeoning intoxicating hemp industry, which generally operates without any of the state-level guardrails that have been established to keep marijuana businesses in check.”
An unflattering New York Times story of Jan. 25, “The Race for All-Powerful Pot,” depicted an industry in a “a race to the bottom,” resorting to corner-cutting tricks like dusting joints with THC concentrate (which is certainly an affront to old-school growers). Among the factors driving this fast-buck atmosphere: “[T]he industry faces a growing threat from intoxicating hemp-derived compounds such as Delta-8, which can be sold more widely and with fewer restrictions.”
For Tiffany Devitt, the time has come to face the music. “Bifurcation of the industry based on where the manufacturer claims to source cannabinoids is a failure,” she says. “It’s a false dichotomy. The more relevant bifurcation is: Is this an intoxicating product or is it not? If it has THC, it belongs in the regulated cannabis market.”
Cross-post to Project CBD
Image of THC molecule via Boston Hempire
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