Marijuana Moment
As part of a new federal workplace drug testing rule change announced last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is revising its terminology to reflect a more nuanced understanding of cannabis.
Previously, HHS referred to delta-9 THC merely as “THC,” with no further specification. That failed to distinguish between delta-9 THC—which is found in marijuana—and delta-8 THC, an increasingly prominent psychoactive cannabinoid that can be produced from federally legal hemp.
The agency also previously used “THCA” to refer to a marijuana metabolite, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid. That conflicts with the more common meaning of “THCA” within the cannabis space, where it typically refers to delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinolic acid—a non-psychoactive that can be converted to delta-9 THC through heating.
Going forward, delta-9 THC will be referred to as such. And HHS will now refer to the THC metabolite as delta-9 THCC rather than THCA.
“The new abbreviations are Δ9THC in place of THC and Δ9THCC in place of THCA,” the agency explained in a post on the Federal Register last week. “The new abbreviations are Δ9THC in place of THC and Δ9THCC in place of THCA. Including ‘Δ9’ in these abbreviations distinguishes them from other compounds ( e.g., Δ-8-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid and Δ-8-tetrahydrocannabinol).”
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