On the 19th of May 2022, a federal court in California ruled that the legalization of hemp at the federal level via the 2018 Farm Bill, eliminated restrictions on several cannabinoids as well as delta-8 THC.

According to reports from San Francisco Chronicles, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that substances containing delta-8 THC are legal. This is because the federal statute defines hemp as any part of the marijuana plant including extracts, cannabinoids, and all derivatives that contain less than 0.3% by weight of delta-9 THC.

The court, during the ruling, affirmed that the Constitution is silent about delta-8 THC

Delta-9 THC, which is often called THC is the most prominent psychoactive cannabinoid in cannabis and stays federally illegal. It is categorized as a Schedule I controlled substance together with heroin, peyote, and methaqualone. In comparison, Delta-8 THC generally occurs in minute quantities in the marijuana plant.

However, modern production and cultivation techniques allow for minor cannabinoids to be refined and concentrated into consumer products. With that, delta-8 THC substances have grown in popularity over the years, particularly in cannabis legalized states.

Similar to delta-9 THC, delta-8 THC also has psychoactive properties. However, users claim that the experience is typically more repressed with mild side effects compared to delta-9 THC. Although some cannabis advocates and several health professionals have affirmed that little is still known about the possible risks and health impacts of delta-8 THC.

For its part, the Ninth Circuit panel remarked that while delta-8 THC has intoxicating and psychoactive properties, it does not fall within hemp’s definition of federal law, hence it is legal.

According to one of the judges in the three-judge panel, Judge D. Michael Fisher, wrote that regardless of the decision to legalize delta-8 THC, the Court won’t alter its judgment for Congress. All three judges that gave the ruling were appointed by Republican presidents. According to Fisher, if a loophole was inadvertently created by lawmakers who didn’t plan to legalize delta-8 THC, then it is congress’ responsibility to fix such a mistake.

The Controversy

The Ninth Circuit judgment originates from a controversy over apparent copyright and trademark violation that hinged on the legality of delta-8 THC. The controversy kicked off when AK Futures, a company that produces vaping products and e-cigarettes, accused Boyd Street Distro of producing sham versions of its products which contain delta-8 THC.

According to data on appeal, it was proven that delta-8 THC products produced by AK Futures are lawful under the Farm Act and hence may get trademark security. On the other hand, Boyd Street claimed the products in question were bought from an individual who claims to be AK Futures’ authorized dealer. AK Futures then claimed its full inventory for that same product had been sold out and won’t be selling the brand shortly.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Boyd Street’s lawyer, Darrel Menthe, argued that no evidence that Congress had plans to legalize delta-8 THC was brought forward. If substances that contain cannabinoids are considered legal, then state and federal governments will probably regulate cannabis products to make use of them safely and not advertised to children.

Darrell Menthe further added that Boyd Street has no primary plans to appeal the decision of the Court.

The director of NORML California, Dale Gieringer, during an interview with the Chronicle, affirmed that it would be more ideal from a policy point of view to just legalize delta-9 THC. He believes that since extensive studies and research has been carried out on the cannabinoid for decades, delta-9 THC is more understood than delta-8 THC.

The Aftermath of the Court ruling

With the 2018 Farm bill enacted into law, delta-8 THC and several minor cannabinoids are now in a kind of legal grey area. While a lot of businesses in the cannabis industry argue that the products are legal, a lot of legislators in many states believe otherwise.

Now, the controversy has bubbled up reaching the federal level. To this end, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), earlier this month, published its first set of warning letters. The letters were issued to cannabis firms as regards the alleged illegal sale of substances that contains delta-8 THC.

Before the warning letters, the FDA had initially published a notice to caution consumers of such products. This approach is similar to how the FDA sent warning letters to several companies over unlicensed advertisements of CBD.

At the moment, the FDA regulations do not allow for the advertisement of cannabinoids in the food supply. However, cannabis advocates and lawmakers have been pressuring the agency to modify its laws to permit the marketing of CBD since hemp has been legalized at the federal level.

As things stand, both parties now have congressional lawmakers pushing the FDA to create new regulations on CBD. Dr. Robert M. Cliff, the FDA Commissioner, during a hearing at the U.S House committee, affirmed that he will be needing a lot of support from Congress to make such development possible.

According to Dr. Robert M. Cliff, the present councils on the food side of the drug side will not be willing to provide what is needed to achieve such a goal. Meanwhile, the Drug Enforcement Administration, since late last year, has signaled that delta-8 THC is legal under the law.

In the same last year, the Texas state government also declared that delta-8 was illegal. This was a development many oppositions challenged in court achieving a pause on the proposed ban by state enforcement.

Conclusion

The controversy between AK Futures and Boyd Street gave enough clarity regarding the legality of e-cigarettes and delta-8 THC products under federal statute. It proves that federal courts are not paying close attention to the loopholes in psychoactive hemp derivatives that were not found in the Farm Bill of 2018.

However, irrespective of your feelings about delta-8 THC, this is a major turnaround in the history of marijuana legalization.

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Study Finds That Cannabis Is Safe For Treating Cancer Pain – Cancer Patients No Longer Need Opioids

As if being diagnosed with the Big C wasn’t bad enough, cancer patients often have to deal with a multitude of other debilitating conditions, with the worst being cancer-related pain.

While a cancer diagnosis doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be in pain, some 55% of cancer patients and 40% of survivors still suffer from chronic pain. Almost half of patients have to use opioids to manage the severe pain caused by the cancer itself which in most cases prevents patients as well as survivors from living a normal life. There are many factors that contribute to how much pain one feels; some days may be filled with pain while others are more tolerable, but no matter what, pain shouldn’t be accepted as part of cancer. There are treatments that are safe and effective available.

Unfortunately, opioid medications have become the standard treatment for severe pain, cancer or not. These ultra-strong chemical drugs may be effective at numbing pain, but at what cost? The opioid epidemic in America has taken millions of lives because it’s far too easy to overdose on it. Yet medical professionals continue to prescribe opioids to cancer patients and other terminally ill because it’s what helps them manage pain.

Opioids are extremely addictive, and even the slightest overdose can cause death.

So what are cancer patients struggling with pain left to do?

Cannabis is a Safe Alternative to Opioids

Medical marijuana has been making waves for its powerful ability to treat pain safely and naturally. This is critical for cancer patients.

A brand-new assessment focusing on the therapeutic benefits of marijuana for pain caused by cancer confirms this. The study, which was published in the medical journal, Frontiers in Pain Research, was conducted by researchers in Israel. “Traditionally, cancer-related pain is mainly treated by opioid analgesics, but most oncologists perceive opioid treatment as hazardous, so alternative therapies are required,” says David Meiri, the study’s author, and an assistant professor at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.

“Our study is the first to assess the possible benefits of medical cannabis for cancer-related pain in oncology patients; gathering information from the start of treatment and with repeated follow-ups for an extended period of time, to get a thorough analysis of its effectiveness,” he said.

For the assessment, they spoke with cancer patients who were seeking other choices available to treat their pain as well as other cancer symptom relief. They then worked with oncologists who issued a license for medical cannabis for their cancer patients, and interested patients who wanted to join the study were asked for their feedback.

“We encountered numerous cancer patients who asked us whether medical cannabis treatment can benefit their health,” explains Gil Bar-Sela, the study’s co-author, who is also an associate professor at the Ha’Emek Medical Center Afula.

The authors particularly wanted to get more information on cannabis for cancer-related pain. “Our review of existing research revealed that actually not much was known regarding its effectiveness, particularly for the treatment of cancer-related pain, and of what was known, most findings were inconclusive,” he adds.

“Patients completed anonymous questionnaires before starting treatment, and again at several time points during the following six months. We gathered data on a number of factors, including pain measures, analgesics consumption, cancer symptom burden, sexual problems, and side effects,” Bar-Sela adds.

After reviewing the data, the researchers found that a great deal of outcome measures revealed improvements. Cancer symptoms as well as pain scores were reduced though it was more significant that the patients were able to stop their intake of opioids or other painkillers. Additionally, they reported that almost half the participants were successfully able to wean off all painkillers just 6 months after treatment with medical marijuana.

“Medical cannabis has been suggested as a possible remedy for appetite loss, however, most patients in this study still lost weight. As a substantial portion were diagnosed with progressive cancer, a weight decline is expected with disease progression,” Meiri said.

Other Studies Reflect Similar Findings

In a 2021 clinical trial conducted by researchers at Minnesota’s Cancer Research Center together with the Minnesota Department of Health involved analyzing patients with stage IV cancer and their consumption of opioids and license cannabis products.

Thirty participants in the study were tasked to consume plant-derived extracts during the trial, starting at 2.5-5mg of THC/CBD, increasing to 30-40mg of THC and CBD each day for the course of the study which lasted two to four weeks. “Medical cannabis use led to improvements in achieving personalized pain goals and lower overall opioid requirements. No serious adverse events with cannabis were reported, and most patients who used cannabis reported that benefits outweighed negative effects.”

“Our results support prior studies suggesting cannabis may improve pain and minimize opioid utilization in both cancer and non-cancer settings… Incorporating cannabis into routine cancer care may improve pain control and minimize opioid requirements,” the authors concluded.

Meanwhile, a 2018 assessment from the European Journal of Internal Medicine, conducted by Tikun Olam researchers, looked at how effective cannabis was for cancer patients. They found that cannabis was efficient in decreasing cancer patients’ intake of opioids within 6 months from the time they started consuming it.

 Lihi Bar-lev Schleider, the study’s lead researcher, disclosed to the Rolling Stone that, “Cannabis is a very good alternative to reduce opioid consumption, to increase quality of life, and to reduce pain, nausea and vomiting.”

Conclusion

There is solid data out there about the efficacy of cannabis for treating cancer symptoms, including pain – which in itself is already very difficult to treat. If you or a loved one is taking opioid medications for cancer, speak to your oncologist about weaning off the drugs and switching to cannabis instead for a safer experience and improved quality of life.

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