Other business owners say they had no idea they were paying marijuana prices for a ‘synthetic’ THC that had been converted from hemp

Richard Batenburg Jr. feels deceived and cheated.

His cannabis brand, Colorado-based The Clear, has been partnering with a licensed Missouri manufacturer to produce pre-rolled joints. Some were infused with a THC concentrate, or distillate, purchased from a Robertsville-based company called Delta Extraction.

When the state issued a recall last month of all products made with the same distillate — a total of 62,000 products — Batenburg’s company was stuck with 90,000 joints taking up space in a Missouri warehouse that he still can’t do anything with.

But it’s not just the recall that got under his skin.

As Delta Extraction was fighting off their license suspension and the recall by state regulators, the company revealed it had been importing concentrated THC oil made from industrial hemp — which is about four times cheaper to make than marijuana THC concentrate in Missouri.

Batenburg had no idea his team was likely buying what he calls a “synthetic” THC — or THC that had been converted from hemp’s CBD using a heavy chemical process — mixed with a small amount of marijuana, while still paying marijuana prices.

Even more infuriating than overpaying for hemp, Batenburg said, is that he was unknowingly deceiving his own customers who thought they were getting a pure marijuana product.

“They were duping all these compliant operators,” he said. “What they’re doing — from a commerce perspective — it’s criminal. They were probably more surprised than anybody that they weren’t getting caught.” [Read More @ The Missouri Independent]