Hawaii has yet to join the growing number of states that have legalized recreational marijuana, but residents and visitors can still stroll into shops here and find a wide assortment of gummies, cartridges and even brownies for sale with THC, the same ingredient in cannabis that gets users high.
The products are derived from hemp rather than marijuana and produced by manufacturers who have taken advantage of a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill, federal legislation that authorized the production of hemp.
Hemp, like marijuana, is a cannabis plant, and while it has just trace amounts of THC, manufacturers have figured out how to produce the psychoactive ingredient from another chemical in the hemp plant, CBD. Sellers have asserted that because CBD is legal, so is the THC that is derived from it.
The products, which often contain delta-8-THC, which is nearly identical to the delta-9-THC in marijuana, have worried public health experts, and a growing number of states have banned their sale or imposed new regulations.
In Hawaii, where medical cannabis is allowed, the legal status of the hemp- derived products is hazy. But at least one state lawmaker wants to ensure they disappear from store shelves.
“You can see it everywhere now,” said Rep. Scot Matayoshi (D, Kaneohe- Maunawili), who chairs the House Labor and Government Operations Committee and has introduced House Bill 70. “There are vape shops in my district advertising about Delta 8.”
Matayoshi worries that the levels of THC in the products are not well understood by consumers.
“People are buying a product that they think is going to get them high and they have no idea how much THC is in there, which can lead to dangerous results,” he said. “They may be taking this before they get in the car or operate machinery or take their kids to school, and that’s not a good thing.”
Federal agencies have become increasingly concerned about the products. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that the process of synthetically converting CBD into delta-8-THC can produce harmful byproducts that are not well understood and can contain contaminants such as heavy metals, solvents and pesticides.
The CDC has also warned that consumers may not always be aware that the products, because they are derived from hemp, can be just as intoxicating as THC from marijuana.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cautioned in May that it had received reports of adverse health effects from consuming delta-8-THC, including hallucinations, vomiting, tremors, anxiety, dizziness, confusion and loss of consciousness. Of the 104 reported cases, more than half resulted in emergency medical services or hospitalization and at least 8% involved children.
National poison control centers received 2,362 reports related to delta-8-THC between Jan. 1, 2021, and Feb. 28, 2022, according to the FDA. Among those, 41% of the cases involved people under 18 and 40% were the result of unintentional consumption of the product.
Even the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, known as NORML, which for decades has advocated for the legalization of marijuana for adults, warns that consumers only obtain delta-8-THC products from state-regulated cannabis manufacturers rather than the unregulated hemp market.
The health concerns have prompted a growing number of states to explicitly ban or impose regulations on the products. Unlike the tightly regulated THC products sold in dispensaries, the hemp-derived products aren’t always subject to the same testing.
Hawaii’s Department of Health has also sought to curb the sale of the products.
In February and April, DOH made changes to its administrative rules governing hemp, specifying that hemp products containing delta-8-THC and delta-10-THC are prohibited. Then in June, DOH and public safety officials raided Pinky’s Hempire stores in downtown Honolulu and in Waikiki. The owner is now suing the state for $10 million, alleging DOH never informed him of the rule change and that DOH doesn’t have the authority to change the federal definition of hemp.
State agencies are required to hold a public hearing on proposed amendments to regulations and give people a chance to provide arguments or comments that must be considered by the agency. But DOH contends the law allows it to exempt itself from that process when adopting interim rules relating to hemp processing and products.
The lawyer for Pinky’s Hempire disagrees.
“We obviously contend that doesn’t work, that doesn’t apply and that they are basically acting super shady and secretive,” said attorney James DiPasquale.
DiPasquale said that his client, as a result of the raids, lost all eight of his business locations, which included shops and kiosks, in addition to the loss of nearly $200,000 in wholesale inventory and hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue.
DiPasquale said his client has since opened a kiosk but isn’t selling the hemp-derived THC products anymore.
“They are not selling anything along those lines now, just out of precaution,” he said. “His business is a shell of what it was.”
Meanwhile, the hemp- derived THC products are readily available at other shops, including several that the Honolulu Star-Advertiser visited along Kalakaua Avenue.
DOH did not respond to a question from the Star- Advertiser asking if there needs to be further action taken at the state level to ban the sale of the products.
Matayoshi’s bill, which was also introduced last year and supported by DOH, would add delta-8-THC to the state’s list of Schedule I controlled substances.
Last year’s bill made it through the House of Representatives but died in the Senate. The measure was opposed by the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, which called it “yet another misguided and over-broad policy response to cannabis.”
The measure was deferred by Sen. Karl Rhoads, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Rhoads (D, Nuuanu- Downtown-Iwilei) said he wasn’t certain why he shelved the measure last year. “I don’t really remember, but my guess is I just felt that it wasn’t that big of a deal one way or the other,” he said.
There is another big push this year to legalize marijuana use for adults in Hawaii, which Rhoads supports. He said that could make the issue moot if the products then fall under new state regulations.
