A Tennessee bill seeking to ban delta-8 THC has been amended by its author to remove language banning the compound and replace it with language to regulate the industry, the Johnson City Press reports. The amendment was approved by the House Criminal Justice Committee last week following a hearing during which the panel heard from both hemp industry advocates and law enforcement officials who opposed an outright ban.
Law enforcement officials told the committee that while they had public safety concerns about delta-8, a ban would strain the state’s crime labs which would be required to test products to determine whether they are legal hemp, a hemp-derived cannabinoid, or illegal cannabis.
Hemp industry representatives told the committee that they supported regulations. Cara Roberts, who owns Delta 9 Delivery with her husband Micah, said that since they don’t grow and process their own hemp, they rely on companies to provide them with safe products and would like to see state-level regulations requiring things like childproof packaging and more information and product safety standards on labels.
“This helps pave the way to help legalize marijuana when it comes, instead of shut the door on this completely.” – Cara Roberts to the Press
The amended bill passed the committee unanimously. If approved by the Legislature, it would prohibit the sale of delta-8 products to anyone under 21-years-old, impose a 5% tax on delta-8 products, and require businesses manufacturing or selling the products to be licensed, along with other requirements such as labeling requirements and child-proof packaging. The regulations would also apply to other cannabinoids such as delta-10 and THCo.
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