They’re sold in gas stations, vape shops, online and in other stores around the country in seemingly countless enticing forms: gummies, chocolate bars, chips. Their packaging lists things like delta-8 THC, micro- and macrodoses of “psychedelics” and “nootropics.”
These substances are often sold through legal loopholes, despite concerns about potential health risks and a lack of oversight of how they’re produced. And in the absence of federal rules, many states have banned or have tried to ban delta-8 THC.
Legal but under-regulated drugs are easy to come by, but experts say there are a lot of uncertainties. Here’s what to know.
Delta-8 has just a slight chemical tweak from the psychoactive delta-9 compound found in marijuana, but it can still get you high.
How are these substances legal?
Drug laws are often specific to the substance, so federal and state regulators are left chasing the newest chemical concoction.
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Delta-8 THC exploded in popularity under the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, more commonly known as the Farm Bill. Under that law, hemp products and the cannabinoids that could be made from them were classified as distinct from marijuana.
Delta-8 has just a slight chemical tweak from the psychoactive delta-9 compound found in marijuana, but it can still get you high.
It remains in a legally ambiguous area with restrictions that vary by state, said Robert Mikos, a marijuana policy and law expert at Vanderbilt University. Substances like cannabinoids are also easy to change into new but similar versions of drugs that may come under scrutiny.
“There’s been all sorts of things that (have) cycled through popularity over time,” he said. “And government enforcement is always one step behind what the chemists can come up with.”
Products advertised as containing synthetically derived delta-8 THC are offered for sale at a smoke shop Feb. 25, 2022, in north Seattle.
If it’s on a store shelf, it’s safe, right?
Because of a lack of oversight into manufacturing processes and a lack of uniform labeling requirements, it’s hard to know what exactly is in a particular product.
For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began investigating illnesses earlier this year caused by recalled Diamond Shruumz products, which in addition to containing muscimol, a legal psychoactive
