The Ups and Downs on Delta-8

 By: Texans Against the Flow

    So as you may or may not know, the legalization of the production of hemp went into effect under HB 1325 last year. The bill passed was quite vague but was passed in an effort to legalize CBD products and hemp production. The farm bill did not at any time mention Delta-8 but did say that all isomers derived from the hemp plant were fair play. Even though Texas is slow to accept the growing popularity of marijuana's legalization in other states of the country, this house bill was a small step forward towards the inevitable legalization of marijuana in Texas.

    The problem is that these bills recently have been flip-flopping to cover the conservative bases and they are not being made to protect the health and safety of it's citizens. Possession of marijuana was first made illegal in 1931 under a very different understanding of the drug. It has since been labeled as a schedule 1 narcotic which means it has no medicinal applications. Countless people have had their lives ruined because of the strict laws in the state. The prison system has been packed full of non violent offenses due to outdated laws not being amended according to new science and testing. It turns out many states outside of Texas have found medical uses for this schedule 1 narcotic. In 2015, Texas actually passed a bill (Bill 339) deeming medical marijuana okay for those in need but with a doctor's approval and a limit of 1% THC. Several decades of irrational prejudice may have hampered clinical research on cannabis as a medicine, but work on the pharmacology of its active ingredients has been making steady progress.(Watts) To say it has no medicinal qualities but also label it as medicinal seems to me counterintuitive. 

    The history of marijuana in Texas has been a lengthy battle but it seemed to be blowing in the favorable direction for those who were pro weed when House Bill 1325 went into effect last year. The bill opened up many doors for the production and profitability of hemp. Many businessmen jumped on the pro hemp bandwagon and saw the positive impacts it could have on people's lives. The bill states that " the plant Cannabis sativa L .and any part of that plant, including the seeds of the plant and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis." The problem with this bill passing was that it was too vague when Delta-8 was introduced by those wanting to make a profit and flying under the radar of laws. Delta-8 started showing up at head shops at first, but soon found it's way to convenience stores across the state. Even though Delta-8 is not as strong as the Delta-9 derivative of the marijuana plant, it still has similar effects of getting high. By the time the Texas legislature realized what was going on they wanted to reverse course on their decision.

    Just a couple weeks ago the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) filed an appeal to a state judge, making Delta-8 a schedule 1 narcotic. The meeting was held without any resistance because no one realized what was being proposed. This "secretive" meeting did not allow anyone who was in business of producing or selling Delta-8 to argue on their behalf.

“Essentially what happened is the department of state health services held a meeting really without proper notice,” said Jax James, the executive director of TEXAS NORML, a Texas marijuana non-profit.

    

    This was very bad news for businesses full of stock which was deemed illegal overnight. How were they supposed to get rid of all of their product that they had invested capitol without breaking the law. A state that legalizes marijuana by allowing limited private sales creates a privilege to sell it. That privilege is worth money, maybe lots of money (Caulkins). And that money was now off the table. It seems to be an unfair law that would have never seen the light of day if it was proposed with the public's knowledge.

    The cannabis proprietors of Texas can now breathe some relief, because, Hometown Hero, a CBD dispensary based in Austin, filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of State Health Services, arguing that DSHS failed to follow the Texas Administrative Procedures Act’s rule making requirements when it classified Delta-8 as a Schedule I controlled substance. And a judge in Travis County blocked the state temporarily with an injunction to make selling or buying Delta-8 not a felony. We will see how long that lasts. With Texas and weed it always seems like one step forward, two stepping back.

works cited:

Caulkins, Jonathan P., et al. “Taxation and Other Sources of Revenue.” Considering Marijuana Legalization: Insights for Vermont and Other Jurisdictions, RAND Corporation, 2015, pp. 75–100, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt15zc545.13.

Watts, Geoff. “Science Commentary: High Hopes For Cannabinoid Analgesia.” BMJ: British Medical Journal, vol. 329, no. 7460, BMJ, 2004, pp. 257–58, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25468786.