Introduction to the Delta-8 Debate
A dangerous new class of illicit drugs being marketed to kids — or a lifeline for small business owners and minority entrepreneurs who have been boxed out of Illinois’ legal marijuana industry? It’s a matter of perspective when it comes to delta-8 and other hemp-derived THC products, which have divided state lawmakers and business leaders since a loophole in federal law launched sales of gummies, vapes and other intoxicants that affect people like weed but technically aren’t.
The Delta-8 Conundrum
Over the past few years, the Illinois General Assembly has tried and failed repeatedly to pass legislation regulating this legal gray area, which Gov. JB Pritzker has branded a public health threat to children. Hemp industry advocates have called for regulations including age limits and safety standards to allow them to stay in business. But the influential cannabis lobby argues their hemp competitors should be held to the same lengthy, expensive licensing standards that weed dispensaries face.
What is Delta-8?
It’s a form of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, that’s extracted from hemp and, when chemically concentrated, can give users a high almost identical to marijuana, which comes from a closely related plant and has a similar psychoactive component: delta-9 THC. Delta-8 products can be consumed in the same ways as marijuana: vapes, edibles, beverages, tinctures, oils, lotions or even buds sprayed with concentrate.
A variety of CBD-derived products on the shelves of Cubbington’s Cabinet, 2015 W. Roscoe St. in North Center.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere / Sun-Times
Is Delta-8 Safe?
Experts don’t have a full picture because products are unregulated. The federal Food and Drug Administration has warned that “children can suffer serious health consequences” from ingesting delta-8 products, which “have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA for safe use in any context.” National poison control centers were called about 2,362 cases involving delta-8 products over a 14-month period from 2021-22, with 41% of those cases involving kids, according to the FDA.
Gov. JB Pritzker holds up delta-8 products at a December news conference.
State of Illinois livestream
But it’s Still Legal?
Possession is legal statewide, and sales are rampant at gas stations and other shops across Illinois, but some local governments are cracking down. Southwest Side Alds. Marty Quinn (13th) and Silvana Tabares (23rd) have passed bans in their wards near Midway Airport, and an emerging patchwork of regulations has stretched to several suburbs that have blocked sales, too, including Antioch, Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, Elgin, Elk Grove Village and Wheeling.
What are the Regulation Proposals?
Pritzker championed a bill that would have limited sales of most hemp-derived products to licensed cannabis dispensaries, effectively banning most delta-8 sales because those licenses are costly and difficult to obtain. Hemp industry leaders said that would wipe out thousands of jobs, a claim Pritzker disputes.
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