Delta-8-THC and Delta-8-THC products-What are these and are they safe?
By Dr Jen Minkovich
I am getting a lot of questions about Delta-8-THC and “Delta-8-THC products” that are being sold in head-shops and gas stations throughout PA. I want to clarify some important points here.
-Delta-8-THC is a trace cannabinoid molecule found in cannabis. It does not occur in a large enough quantity in the plant to make extraction a viable option. Plainly put, there’s not enough Delta-8-THC occuring naturally in the cannabis plant for a company to be able to extract it from the plant and make products out of it.
-The Delta-8-THC that is sold in head shops/etc. is made using chemical processes/reactions that transform cannabidiol (CBD) into Delta-8-THC.
-When you purchase "Delta-8-THC flower," what you're buying is hemp flower (low-THC cannabis flower) that is then sprayed with a solution of Delta-8-THC. "Delta-8-THC flower" is not flower that naturally contains any significant amount of Delta-8-THC, which is what the misleading marketing that companies use will lead people to believe.
- Delta-8-THC is an isomer of Delta-9-THC. (Delta-9-THC is the abundant cannabinoid naturally found in cannabis and it’s what we’re talking about when we generally say "THC.") The two molecules only differ in the position of one double bond. Otherwise they look identical.
-If you use Delta-8-THC products, you will likely test positive on urine drug screen test for THC. It is difficult even for confirmatory lab tests to differentiate between the two. (https://www.questdrugmonitoring.com/blog/2021/delta-8-thc-a-new-synthetic-cannabinoid-poses-problems-for-testing)
-Delta-8-THC hasn't been tested in any meaningful way in humans and we don't have the thousands of years of empirical data on its effects on human health (when it's used in isolation) that we do have with the cannabis plant itself (ie. the full cannabinoid profile of cannabis flower.)
-That being said, Delta-8-THC (the molecule itself) is probably safe in humans and will likely be found to be helpful.
-However, the "Delta-8-THC" products being sold have no mandated regulations or testing protocols. Many contain potentially harmful chemicals. Chemists who are looking at samples of these widely-available products often find that they contain compounds that they can't even classify (unknown chemical compounds.) Read more about that here: https://cen.acs.org/biological-chemistry/natural-products/Delta-8-THC-craze-concerns/99/i31?referral=577F8D88-353D-4077-BF4E-1C6B333990CD
-Some states have outwardly banned Delta-8-THC products. These products remain in a legal grey zone at state level in PA currently. They are, however, illegal on a federal level since Delta-8-THC is an analogue of Delta-9-THC. (See Controlled Substances Act “Analogue and listed chemicals” section.)
-I'm not a person who necessarily feels that substances should be banned. I certainly believe cannabis and the cannabinoids found in cannabis should be legal and descheduled federally. However, it would make sense for there to be mandatory testing for products (including things labeled as "delta-8-THC” products) that we are ingesting and inhaling, so that we can at least know what we are actually putting into our bodies.
