CBD And Hemp Advocates In Tennessee Push For Delta-8 Regulation

In Tennessee, CBD stores are becoming more popular than ever. Interviews with business owners in the Volunteer State suggest customers are flocking by the dozens to individual stores each day to purchase the hemp-based cannabinoid for a variety of health issues, primarily anxiety, depression, insomnia and pain. Others use CBD as a daily supplement to their diet, simply for wellness.

CBD oils, lotions, balms, and edibles among the most popular sellers, said Kevin Figueroa, owner of Your CBD Store in Cleveland, Tennessee. But one type of hemp product in particular is flying off the shelves faster than the others.

Hemp-based Delta-8 THC has skyrocketed in popularity during the past 18 months because of its similarity to Delta-9 THC, the main marijuana compound that gives users a psychedelic lift. Known as ‘marijuana-lite’ or ‘diet weed,’ Delta-8 provides slightly milder versions of the typical cannabis buzz – which can include feelings of energy, euphoria, relaxation, and sleepiness.

Figueroa said demand for Delta-8 products at his store has increased five-fold since the summer of 2020. He’s encouraged that a huge chunk of his business will be protected if state legislators move forward with a proposed bill to regulate the compound. House Bill 1620 would essentially pave the way for CBD stores to legally sell Delta-8 products. It has lukewarm support from the Republican-controlled House and Senate.

“It’d be a relief,” Figueroa said of the bill potentially being passed. “We’ve been on our toes for so long wondering what’s going to happen.”

Nearly all Delta-8 products are extracted synthetically from CBD, which comes from hemp. And U.S. authorities perhaps unknowingly opened the door for Delta-8 when it passed the 2018 Farm Bill, which allowed Americans to grow and sell hemp, as long as the hemp plants contained less than 0.3 percent Delta-9.

The law never said anything about Delta-8, though. While the feds have remained relatively quiet since the Farm Bill, issuing only a pair of conflicting statements on Delta-8 last year, state governments are now taking matters into their own hands.

Formal Delta-8 legalization in Tennessee, if passed, would be among the first of its kind. At least other 18 states have gone in the other direction by restricting or outlawing the compound, including Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.