In the United States, synthetic cannabis products that had been spreading indiscriminately are on the verge of being pulled from the market all at once.
According to the Washington Post (WP) and CNBC on the 13th (local time), the U.S. Congress included a provision to tighten regulations on synthetic cannabis (psychoactive compounds extracted from cannabis) in a stopgap spending bill signed by President Donald Trump that day.
Going forward across the United States, products that contain cannabis components that do not exist naturally or are chemically synthesized will be completely banned from manufacture and sale. After a one-year grace period, those who manufacture, wholesale, or retail such products will be punished under federal law. Whether individuals are punished for possession is expected to be determined by state law.
In Korea, smoking marijuana is punished as drug abuse, but some items such as shrouds made of hemp and foods containing hemp seeds are allowed. The U.S. Congress also legalized some hemp products in the 2018 Federal Farm Bill to boost farm income. Instead, it attached the condition that the content of the key psychoactive component in hemp, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), must be 0.3% or less by dry weight.
The cannabis-related industry exploited this part. They artificially extracted and mass-distributed analog substances that produce psychoactive effects from "legal" hemp with THC content of 0.3% or less. For example, delta-8 THC is a psychoactive substance with a chemical structure almost identical to THC in marijuana, but it is not subject to legal regulation. These products grew explosively under the legal title even in places like Kentucky that ban recreational use of cannabis. Anyone could easily purchase them not only at large retailers like Target but also at convenience stores and gas stations.
Among the cannabis products distributed in this way, many were sold without approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or tested positive for harmful substances such as heavy metals. There was also strong criticism that they targeted children and teenagers with packaging such as gummies, beverages, and candy. According to the Kentucky Poison Control Center, cannabis-related reports have doubled over the past five years, and 40% of them involved children under 12.
As public opinion worsened, state governments moved first. On the 24th, attorneys general from 39 states belonging to the Republican and Democratic parties sent a bipartisan letter to Congress in the name of the National Association of Attorneys General. They said, "Some corporations are exploiting loopholes in the Farm Bill to sell virtually unregulated psychoactive substances," and added, "Clear definitions at the federal level are urgent for consumer protection, especially child protection."
Mitch McConnell, a Republican senator from Kentucky, said, "These dangerous products are addicting kids." According to the political outlet Axios, McConnell is said to have directly inserted this provision into the agriculture appropriations bill in the final stage of the shutdown negotiations.
The new bill is expected to have a significant impact even on states like California and Colorado that have been relatively lenient about recreational marijuana smoking. The bill targets a derivative market called synthetic cannabis, separate from marijuana smoking. Synthetic cannabis products exploited regulatory loopholes and grew into a $28 billion (about 41 trillion won) market in seven years since 2018. The U.S. Hemp Roundtable said in a statement that "the new bill could eliminate 95% of the market and more than 300,000 jobs," pushing back.
The cannabis-related industry is aiming to pass a new federal regulatory bill, similar to those for alcohol or tobacco, that includes age restrictions, mandatory ingredient testing, clear labeling, and reasonable THC content limits.