Hemp stores have exploded in popularity all over the country after hemp was legalized in 2018 with the Farm Bill. Hemp stores have special federal permissions that allow them to offer hemp-derived products.

However, there really aren’t many differences between cannabis plants and hemp plants. Cannabis and hemp are the exact same plant. However, hemp is classified thanks to its THC content. Per the Farm Bill, hemp is a plant that contains less than 0.3% THC by dry weight. Plants that contain more than that are called cannabis, and they’re highly regulated.

More or less, the law made it so that hemp plants and products made from hemp—like topicals, tinctures, edibles, smokable flower, vapes, etc— were legal and able to be sold freely with few regulations, while cannabis plants and products are highly regulated and only available at licensed dispensaries.

While it sounds like a great thing, making it possible to get hemp and CBD products without a medical card or any special licensing, it also created quite a few challenges. The verbiage in the original laws was very nebulous. More or less, anything that contained less than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight could be sold freely, and any hemp-derived cannabinoids were also on the table.

The DEA, the FDA, and many other states have made THC alternatives out to be a public health crisis. In May, Arkansas took the decisive step of prohibiting specific hemp-derived cannabinoids, including delta-8 THC, delta-9, delta-6a, delta-10, and delta-10a. These cannabinoids have been reclassified as Schedule VI drugs in the state because they could definitely be dangerous for several reasons:

• Lack of Regulation: Unlike CBD and other natural cannabinoids, which have gained recognition for their potential therapeutic potential, these banned THC alternatives have not undergone the same level of scrutiny and regulation. They don’t have to be lab-tested, and the industry is still unclear with the best practices involved with monitoring and managing these products. This lack of oversight can lead to inconsistencies in product quality and safety.
• Psychoactive Effects: Some of these banned compounds, like all of the THC alternatives, including delta-8 THC, make you high. These products being so easily accessible is dangerous for people driving or being safe in the workplace.
• Uncertain Health Effects: The long-term health effects of these THC alternatives are not well-understood, which makes their use a potential health risk. Most are fully synthetic and not found naturally in the hemp plant, so we have no data about their long-term safety.
• Mislabeling and Inaccurate Potency: There have been reports of mislabeling and inaccurate potency in products containing these compounds. Further, testing isn’t always mandatory so you never really know what’s in your product. Some studies have found that hemp-derived products are frequently mislabeled, and potency levels often range drastically from one product to the next. This can lead to unpredictable effects and adverse reactions.

More or less, these products are dangerous. Arkansas took the step only to allow natural hemp and cannabis products to be used and sold in the state, which may help improve regulation and safety in the future.