

IS FLORIDA IS ABOUT TO KILL OFF ITS HEMP INDUSTRY?
As legislative sessions across the country continue this spring, we have started to notice an emerging trend among elected officials. Many state senators and congresspersons are being bombarded with requests to clarify, curb, or cancel the rapidly emerging market of...

Is Virginia Really for (hemp) Lovers?
Virginia House Bill 2294 (Bill) recently passed through both the House and Senate of the Virginia General Assembly. This Bill, which can be read in its entirety here, has the potential to severely alter the landscape surrounding hemp-derived products in the...

DEFAMATION, MISINFORMATION, AND SHOOTING THE MESSENGER- A THCO STORY
February 21 2023 On February 13, I posted an article about the DEA’s response to my inquiry regarding the legal status of THCO. As my readers are aware, the DEA stated that THCO is a schedule 1 controlled substance. The DEA’s position, which was spread via my article,...

Cannabinoid Breakdown- Analyzing the DEA’s Position on Novel Cannabinoids
Despite its brevity, the DEA letter I received last week about THCO was followed by confusion and lots of speculation in the cannabis industry about the legal status of novel and mood-altering cannabinoids. This is unfortunate, because I think the letter provided...

THCO is a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance Says DEA
February 13, 2023 Business and Commerce Law, Distributors, I have been concerned about the proliferation of THC acetate ester (THCO) for a while. It has always been my view that THCO is a controlled substance under federal law. Although it can be made from...

KIGHT ON CANNABIS: SPEAK OUT! TAKE A CONFIDENTIAL HEMP SURVEY TO HELP THE INDUSTRY
February 5, 2023 I need your help. In my blog articles I address emerging and/or important legal issues affecting the cannabis industry and, when appropriate, analyze and discuss them in a way that I hope is helpful to readers and industry participants. I...

ROD DISCUSSES THCA FLOWER WITH SHAYDA TORABI ON THE TO BE BLUNT PODCAST
January 30, 2023 I recently discussed THCa hemp flower with Shayda Torabi on the To Be Blunt podcast. In this episode, we discuss the legal and practical challenges and risks of THCa hemp flower in the market, including the complexities of THCa flower and its...

Rod Discusses THCa and Other Hemp Issues with JD McCormick of American Healthy Alternatives (Video Podcast)
In this video podcast, Rod Kight discusses THCa, the 2023 Farm Bill, international cannabis law, and other important and emerging issues in the cannabis and hemp industry with JD McCormick, founder of the American Healthy Alternatives Association.

The International D8 Line
When is it legal to travel abroad with delta-8 THC or to sell it to customers outside the US? The answer is not very complicated.

THCa Flower- The Next Big Thing in Hempland?
We are suddenly receiving lots of calls about “THCa hemp flower”. In this article I will discuss what THCa flower is and the legal and practical issues you need to know about it.



Mid-Atlantic Cannabis: Driving Applications
Marijuana impairs a driver’s reaction time, decision-making ability, capacity to accurately track objects, balance and equilibrium. Still, it is difficult to measure when a person is impaired. The intoxicating ingredient in cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is metabolized differently by individuals and remains in the body long after its psychoactive effects have ceased. Currently, there is no way to reliably measure whether a person who has ingested cannabis an hour earlier is impaired because THC concentration does not correlate well with subjective impairment.

Pennsylvania Medical Cannabis – Chasing the Green
The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) reported that almost $100 million in medical marijuana sales occurred between February 15, 2018, and February 15, 2019, the first full year that medical cannabis was available to Pennsylvania patients. More than $40 million in sales occurred between growers and dispensaries. Pennsylvania does not tax sales to patients, but does tax transactions between growers and dispensaries at a rate of 5%. Thus, in the first year of licensed sales, the Commonwealth received approximately $2 million in tax revenue from medical cannabis.

Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana: Open Fields of Pennsylvania Hemp
The 2018 U.S. Farm Bill has opened the gates to industrial hemp farming. Hemp, a crop that has been banned in the United States since 1937, now may be legally grown. While the most popular product of hemp − oils containing cannabidiol (CBD) and other naturally occurring non-psychoactive cannabinoids − are still subject to conflicting federal and state regulations, the plant itself may be grown across the United States.

Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana: No Good Deed
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania wants medical researchers to study cannabis at Pennsylvania medical schools, eight of which have been certified as Academic Clinical Research Centers (ACRCs). ACRCs can contract with Clinical Registrants (CRs), entities that the Commonwealth will license to cultivate, package and dispense cannabis for medical research. An entire set of regulations, commonly referred to as “Chapter 20,” has been drafted, redrafted and amended to make medical research of cannabis a reality in the Commonwealth.

Pennsylvania Cannabis: Dispensary Woes
On December 18, 2018, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) issued 23 cannabis dispensary permits (Phase II licenses). Fifty entities have been awarded dispensary licenses, which is the total number allowed under Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act. Each licensee can operate up to three dispensaries, bringing the total number of possible dispensaries in Pennsylvania to 150.

Cannabis: Social Justice in Commercial Cannabis
As the legal status of cannabis evolves, state legislatures are confronted with a difficult moral issue – how should local and state governments treat persons convicted of offenses that are no longer illegal? Below is a discussion of some of the options.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey Cannabis: Hemp Gummies
But of course, the “hemp oil” or cannabidiol (CBD) remains illegal under state law. Even if the CBD is locally sourced and sold through a licensed dispensary, edibles are not legal in Pennsylvania. Edibles are presently restricted to underage patients New Jersey. Moreover, Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act (MMA) strictly prohibits advertising or packaging that appeal to children. Candy-shaped CBD probably runs afoul of the spirit of the MMA.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey Cannabis: Recovering Capital
National legalization of cannabis is now a reality − in Canada and Uruguay. Further south, we are still waiting, our hopes stoked by committed legislators who assure us that changes are coming soon.

Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana: Transparent Cannabis
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has decided a new case that may have a huge impact on cannabis licensing in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Commonwealth Court hears cases involving state and local government entities and state agencies in Pennsylvania and has heard a number of challenges regarding the administration of the 2016 Medical Marijuana Act (MMA).

A/NJ Cannabis: Slow March Toward Progress
On September 21, 2018, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania certified eight medical schools as Academic Clinical Research Centers (ACRCs). The following schools are now certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to contract with Clinical Registrants (CRs) to conduct medical research: