WBGZ Radio 4/16/2021 |
By Cole Lauterbach - Illinois Radio Network
Delta-8, which has been called both “THC-lite” and CBD on crack, has become increasingly popular throughout the state of Illinois as a substitute for cannabis.
The increase in use has led members of the cannabis industry and some lawmakers to call for more regulation of the product. Delta 8 comes from the cannabis plant, but is distinct from both cannabidiol – the popular non-intoxicating supplement – and THC, or delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, the chemical that gets people high.
Pam Althoff, executive director of the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois, has been vocal in favor of more regulation for Delta-8. She called it a “cheaper and more dangerous substitute for legal weed,” the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Concerns over Delta-8? | Health And Medicine
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Cannabis group calls for regulation of Delta-8 products sold outside of cannabis dispensaries in Illinois
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Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
There’s a new high in town.
A growing number of Chicago businesses are now exploiting a loophole in federal law that appears to allow the unfettered sale of a trendy hemp byproduct called Delta-8-THC, which has commonly been described as “marijuana-lite” or “diet weed.”
Retailers across the city have started selling a variety of Delta-8 products in settings that resemble licensed cannabis dispensaries but aren’t subject to the same stiff regulations. Many sell everything from edibles to vaping cartridges, as well as smokable hemp flower sprayed with Delta-8 extract. Related
Some places are even dosing food and drinks with Delta-8 and allowing customers to consume it on site. That flies in the face of a hard-fought provision in the state’s marijuana legalization law that tightly regulates public consumption, which isn’t allowed in Chicago yet.
A year after recreational pot sales kicked off in Illinois, legalization has been a boon for the few multimillion-dollar companies granted permission to grow and sell weed and a windfall for local and state governments strapped for cash.
But it’s also been a jackpot for a host of former cannabis regulators who are now cashing in on Illinois’ “green rush.”
On top of that, two sponsors of the law that legalized recreational cannabis are also benefiting from the pot industry albeit through connections to firms operating in other states.
State Rep. Marty Moylan (D-Des Plaines) has now introduced legislation that would strengthen conflict of interest provisions in the legalization law that aim to prevent lawmakers, regulators and their families from profiting off the industry.