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Delta-8-THC: Ugly Duckling or Beautiful Swan? By Anthony Macherone Delta-8-THC, hot or not?
Photo: Agilent Technologies/Used with Permission
The legal environment surrounding cannabis and hemp in the United States, Canada, and many other countries around the globe is rapidly changing. No longer does this plant carry the stigma of the 20th century. Over the past decade, it has become commonly accepted that cannabinoids, flavonoids, and terpenes synthesized by Cannabis spp. can positively affect well-being, but there has been little consideration for potentially adverse phenotypic and sociological outcomes. Nonetheless, the realities of CB1 and CB2 receptors and the endocannabinoid system argue in favor of more research and understanding of phytocannabinoids and their role in physiology. In the U.S., the legal landscape surrounding cannabis is a thickly bordered mosaic between 104
Cannabis & Tech Today // Summer 2021
the states and the federal government. From the DEA perspective, the cannabis plant or cannabinoid products are illegal if they contain more than 0.3 percent by weight of delta-9tetrahydrocannabinol, colloquially referred to as THC. In an article in smithsonianmag.com, Brian Handwerk writes that contemporary marijuana typically contains 18% to as much as 30% THC. Levels of THC this high are an order of magnitude more potent than the marijuana of the 1980s. Hemp is defined in the United States Federal Register as any part or derivative (including seeds) of the plant Cannabis sativa L. with a dry weight concentration of tetrahydrocannabinols not greater than 0.3 percent. In this context, tetrahydrocannabinols include the salts and isomers of THC. The FDA must ensure safe
food, drugs, and dietary supplements synthesized or derived from cannabis or hemp comply with DEA regulations. The USDA must regulate industrial hemp production. In March 2021, the USDA issued a final rule that mandated “maintaining records about the land where hemp is produced, testing the levels of total THC, disposing of non-compliant plants, licensing hemp producers, and ensuring compliance under the new program.” In states that have legalized medicinal or adult recreational use of cannabis products, legislation is defined for product testing. Residual pesticides and solvents, terpenes, mycotoxins, heavy metals, and microbial screening for E. coli and Aspergillus spp. are commonly required tests. Regarding cannabinoids, states require a quantitative assessment of total THC and total cannabidiol, which is a common phytocannabinoid derived from the decarboxylation of cannabidiolic acid. These metrics are a normalized sum of the corresponding acid plus the neutral compound. Total THC and total cannabidiol are determined through Equations 1 and 2. EQUATION 1 Total THC = 0.877 * [Tetrahydrocannabinolic Acid] + [THC] EQUATION 2 Total Cannabidiol = 0.877 * [Cannabidiolic Acid] + [Cannabidiol] Recently, delta-8-THC has become the controversial step-kin of THC. In the more chemically processed products, the synthetic potential for THC by-products is high, and often compounds like delta-8-THC are formed. Although not defined in most regulations, quantitative determination of delta-8-THC is critical for total THC accuracy.
