Restrictions on delta-8 THC products advance in Kentucky

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Delta-8 THC products sold in Kentucky would be restricted to buyers 21 and older and would have to comply with testing and labeling requirements under a bill sailing through the state Legislature.

House Bill 544, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Rebecca Raymer, passed the Kentucky House on Thursday by a 97-0 vote, the Associated Press reported.

The measure now goes to the state Senate, which rejected an outright ban on delta-8 THC products last year.

Kentucky’s part-time state legislature adjourns at the end of March.

Hemp-derived intoxicating delta-8 THC products have exploded in popularity since Congress passed the 2018 Farm Bill with support from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the state’s senior U.S. senator.

Last year, a circuit court judge ruled that delta-8 THC products were legal in Kentucky.

Under the Farm Bill, hemp plants with 0.3% or less THC are legal.

Last November, Kentucky’s Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, issued an executive order instructing state regulators to impose labeling and packaging requirements on delta-8 THC products sold in the state.

Raymer told Spectrum News 1 that her proposal goes further, with specific labeling, testing, and age verification requirements.

Elsewhere around the country, governors and state lawmakers are sounding the alarm over intoxicating hemp products.

In nearby Arkansas, for example, a state senator filed a bill this week that would ban delta-8, delta-9 and delta-10 THC, according to the Arkansas Times.