Science & Health
States That Keep Marijuana Illegal See More Delta-8 THC Exposures Reported To Poison Centers, Study Shows
A new study finds that rates of delta-8 THC exposures reported to poison centers in the U.S. are significantly lower in states where marijuana is legal and regulated and in those that banned the specific cannabinoid.
“This is likely attributable, in part, to less market competition from ∆9-THC products in states where their use was illegal,” says the research, published in the Journal of Medical Toxicology, “and that ∆8-THC was likely being used as a substitute for ∆9-THC.”
The findings come amid a notable uptick in delta-8 THC exposure reports to poison centers (PCs), which the report says rose by 79 percent from 2021 to 2022.
States in the U.S. South, authors noted, accounted for more than two thirds of all exposures. That region of the country has zero states where adults can legally buy recreational marijuana from licensed retailers.
“There was a statistically significant difference in the mean rate of exposures between states where cannabis use was illegal and states where cannabis use was legal.”
“Despite public health concerns, there has been relatively little research on ∆8-THC,” the study notes, “including on US state and regional variations and how state regulations may influence the public health impact of ∆8-THC.” Of the little investigation that has been done, it adds, “study designs had limitations related to potential bias and poor generalizability.”
“The objective of our study,” wrote the eight-person research team, “was to investigate exposures involving ∆8-THC reported to US poison centers (PCs), with an emphasis on state and regional variations.”
The report was authored by researchers from Nationwide Children’s Hospital, the Ohio State University College of Medicine’s pediatrics department, the University of Colorado School of Medicine, the Central Ohio Poison Center and the organization Child Injury Prevention Alliance.
The team looked at data reported to the National Poison Data System from across the U.S. from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2022.
States were split into groups based on two categories: the status of cannabis in that jurisdiction during the study period as well as whether delta-8 THC itself was regulated.
“Our findings showed a statistically significant lower rate of ∆8-THC exposures reported to [poison centers] among states where medical or recreational cannabis use was legal than states where cannabis use was illegal.”
Delta-8 groups were threefold: unregulated, banned or restricted but not banned outright—for example, limiting legal sales to people 21 and older. Cannabis categories were more complicated and broken down into six groups based on whether marijuana was legal for medical and/or adult use and taking into account whether laws were static or changed during the study period.
“The rate of ∆8-THC exposures reported to PCs was significantly lower among states where ∆8-THC was banned and among states where cannabis use was legal,” the team wrote. “Consistent regulation of ∆8-THC across all states should be adopted.”
In 2022, for example, states where cannabis use was illegal had an average delta-8 THC exposure rate of 1.64 (median 1.88) per 100,000 population. Rates were less than a third of that in states where cannabis was legal, which had an average exposure rate of 0.52 (median 0.21) per 100,000 people.
Adding in transition states had “relatively minor” effect, authors said, and “analyses involving rates for 2021 did not differ substantially from those for 2022, although the rates in 2021 were lower than in 2022.”
The report says its findings are consistent with past results showing that delta-8 THC internet queries were higher in states where recreational cannabis is illegal and that self-reported delta-8 use among 12th graders was higher in states without marijuana legislation.
Results of the new study reflect “the potential for regulation to reduce potentially harmful exposures.”
“Although, to-date, public policy efforts have focused more on ∆9-THC,” the study says, “our study’s findings support the need for adoption of consistent regulation of ∆8-THC across all states.”
Separately, federally funded research published late last year by the American Medical Association (AMA) found that people in states where marijuana is illegal are significantly more likely to have used products containing lesser-known cannabinoids like delta-8 THC, signaling that prohibition may “unintentionally promote” usage of such products.
While some states are now taking patchwork steps to regulate delta-8 THC and other hemp-derived or synthesized cannabinoids, discussions are also playing out at the federal level as congressional lawmakers consider legislative provisions to impose a general ban on hemp-derived cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC.
Rep. Mary Miller’s (R-IL) amendment to the 2024 Farm Bill, for example, was approved by a House committee in May and would remove cannabinoids that are “synthesized or manufactured outside of the plant” from the federal definition of legal hemp. The change is backed by prohibitionists as well as some marijuana companies, who’ve described the restriction as a fix to a “loophole” that was created under the 2018 Farm Bill that federally legalized hemp and its derivatives.
Anti-drug groups, law enforcement and some health organizations have called on Congress to embrace the ban, arguing that “trying to regulate semi-synthetic cannabinoids will not work.”
In addition to Miller’s amendment in the 2025 Farm Bill, the House Appropriations Committee last month approved a separate spending bill that contains a similar provision to prohibit cannabinoid products such as delta-8 THC and CBD containing any “quantifiable” amount of THC.
How to address hemp-derived cannabinoids has caused some fractures within the cannabis community, and in some cases marijuana businesses have found themselves on the same side as prohibitionists in pushing a derivatives ban.
In a letter to congressional leaders ahead of Miller’s amendment, the U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC) proposed specific language they wanted to see included that would place hemp-derived cannabinoids containing any amount of THC under the definition of federally illegal marijuana.
While they’ve focused on the need to address public safety concerns related to unregulated “intoxicating” cannabinoid products such as delta-8 THC, some hemp industry advocates say the effect of the proposed language could be a ban on virtually all non-intoxicating CBD products as well, as most on the market contain at least trace levels of THC, consistent with the Farm Bill definition of hemp that allows for up to 0.3 percent THC by dry weight.
Meanwhile, the legislation that advanced through the House Agriculture Committee in May also contains provisions that would reduce regulatory barriers for certain hemp farmers and scale-back a ban on industry participation by people with prior drug felony convictions.
Specifically, it would make it so the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), states and tribal entities could choose to eliminate a policy that prevents people with felony drug convictions in the past 10 years from being licensed to produce industrial hemp.
However, advocates had hoped to see more expansive language, such as what was described in Senate Democrats’ recent summary of their forthcoming Farm Bill draft. Under that plan, there would be a mandate to eliminate the ban, rather than simply authorizing it, and it would cover all hemp producers, not just those growing it for non-extraction purposes.
The Senate Agriculture Committee has not yet released the draft text of their bill, so it remains to be seen if the summary description matches what will ultimately be released. Bipartisan House lawmakers filed standalone legislation last year that would broadly lift the felony ban for would-be hemp producers.
Lawmakers and stakeholders have also been eyeing a number of other proposals that could be incorporated into the Farm Bill—and which could come up as proposed amendments as the proposal moves through the legislative process—including measures to free up hemp businesses to legally market products like CBD as dietary supplements or in the food supply.
The hemp market started to rebound in 2023 after suffering significant losses the prior year, according to an annual industry report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that was released in April.
The data is the result of a survey that USDA mailed to thousands of hemp farmers across the U.S. in January. The first version of the department’s hemp report was released in early 2022, setting a “benchmark” to compare to as the industry matures.
Bipartisan lawmakers and industry stakeholders have sharply criticized FDA for declining to enact regulations for hemp-derived CBD, which they say is largely responsible for the economic stagnation.
To that end, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf testified before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee earlier this year, where he faced questions about the agency’s position that it needed additional congressional authorization to regulate the non-intoxicating cannabinoid.
USDA is also reportedly revoking hemp licenses for farmers who are simultaneously growing marijuana under state-approved programs, underscoring yet another policy conflict stemming from the ongoing federal prohibition of some forms of the cannabis plant.
For the time being, the hemp industry continues to face unique regulatory hurdles that stakeholders blame for the crop’s value plummeting in the short years since its legalization. Despite the economic conditions, however, a recent report found that the hemp market in 2022 was larger than all state marijuana markets, and it roughly equaled sales for craft beer nationally.
Meanwhile, internally at USDA, food safety workers are being encouraged to exercise caution and avoid cannabis products, including federally legal CBD, as the agency observes an “uptick” in positive THC tests amid “confusion” as more states enact legalization.
Photo courtesy of Pexels/Kindel Media.
