This state’s hemp and marijuana businesses want Colorado to create a task force to smooth a rift between the two industries.

Although both are cannabis plants, hemp and marijuana differ in one key way: THC. If a hemp plant’s flowers or a final hemp product tests above 0.3 percent THC, it is considered marijuana by the federal government and must be destroyed or remediated. A variety of hemp plants have been selectively bred to produce low amounts of THC and high amounts of CBD, a non-intoxicating cannabinoid with medical benefits. But complicating things is the fact that CBD can be modified into forms of THC, including some that aren’t explicitly banned by the federal government.

Most of the country is still unfamiliar with modified cannabinoids, a new wave of cannabis compounds whose development was made possible by a recent federal loophole. That window has created a burgeoning market online for gummies and vaporizers that can provide intoxicating effects similar to those of marijuana products sold at dispensaries. The possibilities became apparent after Congress legalized hemp farming in 2018, with hemp-derived cannabinoids like CBD soon converted into Delta-8 THC, Delta-10 THC and other THC isomers that are technically different from Delta-9 THC; CBD can also be converted into Delta-9 THC. Since Delta-9 is the only form of THC mentioned in the Controlled Substances Act, hemp product manufacturers now have a lucrative opportunity, especially in states without legal recreational marijuana. [Read More @ Westward]