THC regulation disagreement stalls delta-8 ban in Washington state

Last-minute disagreements about the rise of hemp-derived THC products in Washington state derailed legislative proposals to ban the sale of delta-8 THC derived from hemp extracts.

Washington lawmakers looked at several bills to address hemp-derived intoxicants but failed to arrive at a compromise.

The Associated Press reports that lawmakers couldn’t agree on how much authority to give the Liquor and Cannabis Board, the state agency that regulates adult-use marijuana.

A cannabis attorney in Seattle, Justin P. Walsh of Gleam Law, told Hemp Industry Daily that dueling proposals about hemp intoxicants sold outside Washington’s regulated adult-use marijuana market failed to gain enough support to advance to the governor’s desk during the state’s 60-day legislative term.

“The scuttlebutt is that it was a failure of some legislators to bring everyone to one table to hash it out,” said Walsh, who also teaches about cannabis policy and law at Seattle University School of Law.

Many states are looking at bills to regulate hemp intoxicants this legislative term. Lawmakers in many places are vowing to act after being surprised that federal law appears to allow licensed hemp operators to convert hemp-derived THC intoxicants, provided they don’t exceed federal limits for delta-9 THC, the most abundant version of THC in the plant.