« We`re getting reports that in banned states like Georgia, you can walk into a truck stop where you look at what looks like a cannabis bud in a pot, » Downs said. The bud is hemp sprayed with highly concentrated Delta 8 oil. However, manufacturing is a separate issue. While hemp is legal to buy, sell and possess, the Texas Department of State Health Services prohibits the processing and manufacture of smokable hemp in the state. That ban was upheld by a Texas Supreme Court ruling in June 2022, according to the Dallas Observer. Journay`s criticism of the marijuana industry contains some truth, said Chris Lindsey, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates for the legalization of marijuana for adults. « We`re seeing this happening in every adult legalization state, » Lindsey said. « Your established medical cannabis industry will sometimes be your loudest opponents, and that`s a business thing. This is not a marijuana case. « The vast majority of negative information and pressure to make Delta-8 illegal comes from the marijuana industry, » Journay said. « It squeezes their profit margins, which is funny that the marijuana guys are suddenly in favor of prohibition. » « Congress clearly had no intention of legalizing marijuana/intoxicating consumer products through hemp legalization and instructed the FDA to regulate the final product, » Hauser wrote in an email.
« However, the legalization of hemp has allowed companies to develop and innovate new cannabinoids, including many useful consumer products — and in the absence of the FDA — including the development of intoxicating cannabinoids through legal hemp derivatives arguably legalizing marijuana. » Prior to the passage of the hemp law, law enforcement in Harris, Dallas, Bexar, and Nueces counties had already stopped arresting many people found in a first offense involving small amounts of drugs. Instead, they can offer diversion programs to keep defendants out of jail or issue quotes for people with a marijuana offense. « What is clear from this case and the consumer market, innovation and product development resulting from the legalization of hemp is that Congress needs to legalize and regulate all cannabis, » Hauser continues. « The partial and incomplete end of prohibition – the legalization of the low-THC cannabis plant while maintaining the prohibition of high-THC strains – has only increased the cannabis consumption market and exacerbated the need for federal cannabis legalization that includes manufacturing regulations. testing, labeling and other product safety standards. This week, Congress approved the final version of the 2018 Farm Bill, and President Trump is expected to sign the bill in the coming days. But this is not a typical farm calculation. While it offers significant expansions of agriculture and food policy over five years, the most interesting changes involve the cannabis plant. Normally, cannabis is not part of the conversation about farm subsidies, food aid and crop insurance. But this year, the support and leadership of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has put the cannabis plant in the spotlight. A May 2022 article by The Dallas Morning News/UT-Tyler found similar support for legalization: 83 percent of Texas voters would support legalizing medical marijuana and 60 percent would support legalizing recreational use. One of the goals of the 2014 Farm Bill was to generate and protect hemp research.
The 2018 Farm Bill continues these efforts. Section 7605 extends the protection of hemp research and the conditions under which such research can and must be conducted. In addition, Section 7501 of the Farm Bill expands hemp research by including hemp in the Critical Agricultural Materials Act. This provision recognises the importance, diversity and potential of the plant and its products, but also recognises an important point: there is still much to learn about hemp and its products from a commercial and commercial point of view. Yes, farmers – legal and illegal – already know a lot about this plant, but more can and should be done to ensure that hemp remains stable as an agricultural raw material. « Regardless of the wisdom of legalizing delta-8-THC products, this court will not substitute its own political judgment for Congress, » Judge D. Michael Fisher wrote in the court`s unanimous decision. Das Urteil des 9. District noted that if Congress does not intend to legalize psychoactive cannabinoids like delta-8 THC with the 2018 Farm Bill, « then it is up to Congress to right its mistake. » He pointed to a recent study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy showing that the number of Google searches for delta-8 in the U.S. increased in 2021 and interest was particularly high in states that restrict cannabis use. « In an environment where whole plant cannabis is legally available, there would be little to no demand for these alternative products, » Armentano said.
