Hotboxed Wisconsin must regulate delta-8 and have debate about legalizing Pot
Wisconsin is only one of six states where delta-8 is legal and unregulated.
The adults in my immediate family have come to expect a specific stocking stuffer every Christmas: delta-8 gummies.
At some point over the last couple years, my mother found a Wisconsin-based, woman-owned, hemp product company that she loves supporting by buying annual holiday themed packages for us while not having any interest in partaking herself.
The first time my husband received this gift, he was unfamiliar with delta-8. He naively assumed that anything legal in Wisconsin couldn’t get you that high. He. Was. Wrong. Thankfully, nothing medically bad happened to him that holiday season but we do joke that he took a trip to Mars.
For about a year, every time he would tell someone that story he would say, “How is something that strong legal in a state that doesn't even allow medical marijuana?”
Only recently did we find out through the Highly Legal investigative series in the Journal Sentinel, that, not only is delta-8 legal here, there hasn’t even been a single piece of legislation proposed to regulate it.
How is legal and available for sale in Wisconsin anyway?
Congress legalized the sale of hemp and products extracted from it with the 2018 Farm Bill. The actual levels of THC is very low in hemp, so presumably, the assumption was that this would not be a competitor to the still federally prohibited marijuana plant.
But apparently Congress underestimated the ingenuity of some entrepreneurial spirits, because manufacturers found a way to extract highly potent compounds from hemp. It has since turned into a booming industry.
States are all over the map with how they have decided to handle delta-8. Some have banned it while others have chosen to regulate it. Wisconsin is only one of six states where delta-8 is legal and unregulated.
There’s no testing on purity or potency. You can buy it at gas stations. There’s no special tax on these products. There’s not even a definite age limit.
What surprises me the most, however, is that there hasn’t been a single bill even proposed. How do we have lawmakers who have kept us in the minority of states that haven’t legalized medical marijuana not even attempt to regulate delta-8 whatsoever?
Delta-8 could be bargaining chip to address marijuana laws
Since the first Highly Legal special report was published in April, some lawmakers in Madison have finally gone on record with what they hope to do in regards to delta-8 next legislative session. Not shockingly, their views on delta-8 parallel their views on marijuana.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he wants to ban it and similar products outright. On the other side of the aisle, Senate Democrats Melissa Agard and Chris Larson both said they oppose banning delta-8 but agree there needs more oversight. In many ways, this feels like it could be the same kind of standoff we have been at with marijuana for years.
However, we seem to have found ourselves in the proverbial upside down of drug legislation with two similar drugs. With marijuana still being prohibited federally, it’s going to take our divided state government negotiation and compromise to come to any sort of agreement on loosening the reins. In contrast, with delta-8 being legal federally, it’s going to take our divided state government negotiation and compromise to come to any sort of agreement on tightening the reins.
It seems as though 2024 is as good a time as any to have all parties come to the table and finally have good faith conversations over what to do with THC in all of its forms.
