The Hemp THC Fallacy

Myth busting and fact-finding with a scientist.

Friday, December 15, 2023
Time to read: About 10 minutes. Contains 2,106 words.

For a while there, I thought I had the whole Delta 8/hemp Delta 9 realm figured out. 

First, there was just Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol—the thing inside weed that made me feel high. Then I learned of another profound compound in cannabis called cannabidiol, or CBD, with less intoxicating effects but just as much medicinal potential. A few years after that, the 2018 Farm Bill passed, defining “hemp” as a cannabis plant containing less than 0.3% THC and permitting it to be shipped across state lines and mailed directly to consumers, separate from the regulated medical/adult-use markets. 

In my mind, at that time, it was logical to assume that extracts from those <.3% THC hemp plants were less potent than the extracts coming from full-bodied cannabis plants in the licensed market, and I was highly skeptical of this realm of unregulated, seemingly lesser-than plants. 

Then came the Delta 8 boom of 2020—the proliferation of this nearly identical compound found in cannabis that delivers a slightly varied experience of being high. It purportedly had a psychotropic effect similar to about half the degree of a regular puff of pot. Intoxicating enough, but since “Delta 9” was the terminology used in federal cannabis legislation, there was a loophole for sales across state lines—the same loophole being explored by hemp businesses. Delta 8 was showing up everywhere, from grocery stores to gas stations, labeled as “hemp-derived” to stay out of trouble. In states where cannabis remained illegal, Delta 8 provided a “legal” way to get high. 

Things got stickier for this grey area of ‘noids when regulators started to attempt to rein them in. Part of that was due to the way they were being manufactured. While Delta 8 occurs naturally in cannabis plants, extracting significant amounts of it requires a lot of plants. An easier way to get a lot of D8 fast is to draw it from already extracted oil. By that logic, some argued this is not a plant-derived extract, invoking the term “synthetic cannabinoid.” Sounds scary, right? It freaked me out—the idea of over-processing these compounds reminded me of a photo-copy of a photo-copy; I imagined the end product contained only a fraction of the same robust profile of the compounds that make weed great. 

Some states have banned Delta 8 or “synthetic cannabinoids” of any kind; Minnesota (sort of accidentally) legalized it, and many CBD brands feel pressured to start selling hemp-derived THC to capture those consumers seeking legal highs in states without legal weed. More alt forms of THC have hit the hemp-derived scene—HHC, Delta 10, and the OG Delta 9 herself—all available for purchase online, shipped nationally, and plenty of them sold in stores located in states where cannabis remains totally illegal.

Coming to a Hemp-Derived Head

Over the course of this normalization of what I saw as knockoff THC, I’ve shared skeptical observations here in this newsletter—most recently, a LinkedIn post about a founder of a licensed California edible brand leaving her post to seek out a gig in the hemp-derived Delta 9 space. In her eyes, that’s where the money lies. I asked Sticky Bits readers if they agreed and how they felt about this realm’s growth. 

Responses covered the gamut—curiosity, confusion; testaments to hemp D9 highs feeling different, "crack-y”; “real weed” evangelists who find it counterintuitive towards good cannabis education and destigmatization; supporters grateful for this magical compound allowing red states access to quality cannabis—but one turned my hemp perceptions upside down:

On the one hand, I knew somewhere in my mind that hemp and cannabis are the same plant, just different strains. But I’d really gotten accustomed to talking about them as two different things, with the extract of each being vastly different in potency/quality/robustness. I had fallen into this real weed v. fake weed mindset, and the idea that THC is THC, regardless of the plant it comes from, broke my brain. Was he right? Had I been fostering an inexistent division in my coverage? I needed an actual scientist to help me clarify this once and for all.

A Straight, Scientific Answer

Cue Dr. Adie Rae, an academic neuroscientist who has been studying cannabis since 2004. Dr. Rae has worked closely with cultivators, lab techs, and testing facilities over the years while conducting NIH-funded preclinical and clinical research. I can’t put it any clearer than she did, so I’m going to dive right into our conversation. After that, we’ll suss out some of the bigger industry implications of this reality check.

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