Cannabis plants hang under a tent during a rally to legalize recreational marijuana outside the Pennsylvania State Capitol on April 20, 2021 (Capital-Star photo).
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday has joined a group of 38 state attorneys general calling on Congress to close a loophole that allows the production and sale of drugs from industrial hemp.
The letter from members of the National Association of Attorneys General said the ambiguity of a 2018 federal law allowing farmers to grow low-potency cannabis for hemp products was exploited to sell synthetic marijuana at gas stations, convenience stores and other businesses without regulation or consistent age checks.
“Hemp-based THC products have flooded communities across our states due to a gross misinterpretation of the definition of ‘hemp’ in the 2018 Farm Bill, which companies are exploiting to profit at the expense of public safety and health,” reads the letter to leaders of the House Appropriations and Agriculture Committees.
THC, tiny for tetrahydrocannabinol, is a family of more than 100 compounds found in cannabis that produce psychoactive effects, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Only one, delta-9 THC, is controlled in the Farm Bill, while others found in smaller amounts, including delta-8 THC, are unregulated.
Groups including law enforcement and some people in the legal cannabis industry have been pressuring Congress to close what they called the “delta-8 loophole” by redefining legal cannabis products.
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Pennsylvania U.S. Rep. GT Thompson (R-15th District), who serves as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, told Politico last year’s amendments to the bill will be “one of the more interesting debates and discussions under the Farm Bill.”
Others argue that hemp-derived THC products are safe and sound if properly regulated.
“The problem in this industry is that there are so many loopholes that allow bad operators to come in,” Ryan Burke, president and chief operating officer of boxer Mike Tyson’s cannabis company Tyson 2.0, said during a visit to Pennsylvania lawmakers last week. Although Burke and Tyson lobbied for the recreational marijuana bill, Tyson 2.0 also sells delta-8 products.
Burke said when states like Pennsylvania don’t have a recreational marijuana policy, consumers buy products that represent a gap in the industry.
“And because there is no testing system to hold them accountable, and no age restrictions to ensure kids don’t get their hands on it, it leads to a very bad stigma,” Burke said, adding that he supports taking another look at the Farm Bill.
As originally passed, the hemp provisions in the Farm Bill limit the amount of delta-9 THC allowed in hemp products. The House Agriculture Committee passed legislation in May 2024 that would redefine legal hemp by restricting all forms of THC, but there has been no progress since then.
Sunday said in a statement Tuesday that the products are “widely available” in Pennsylvania, allowing companies to profit from selling extremely potent hemp-derived THC products, often packaged to appeal to children.
“This unregulated market allows children to purchase these extremely powerful products, often without knowing that these products are intoxicating, addictive and unsafe,” Sunday said.
In Pennsylvania, adults can purchase cannabis with a prescription to treat a variety of conditions, from terminal illnesses such as cancer to mental health conditions such as anxiety.
State lawmakers also flirted with legalizing recreational marijuana for adult exploit, but were unable to agree on a business model. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro included legalized recreational marijuana in his budget proposal this year as a revenue source that could generate hundreds of millions in up-to-date taxes.
Four states bordering the commonwealth have legalized recreational marijuana, and marijuana advocates note that Pennsylvania is losing money when residents cross state lines to legally purchase cannabis products.
The 2018 Agricultural Improvement Act legalized hemp for commercial exploit as an industrial fiber, in food or wellness products. Although hemp and cannabis are the same plant, the law has defined hemp as cannabis containing less than 0.3% delta-9 THC on a parched weight basis.
“Yet, by using highly sophisticated chemical processes – which Congress did not consider when passing the 2018 Farm Bill – to manipulate the hemp plant, the psychoactive hemp industry is artificially producing various forms of THC,” the attorneys general’s letter says, noting that they are often packaged as gummies, candies and drinks.
“In this way, legal, non-intoxicating hemp is used to produce Frankenstein THC products that give high levels to adults, harm and even kill children,” the letter reads.
