What Are Your Thoughts on the USDA Rules

[RAW Moderator]

Hey Everyone!

What are your thoughts on the new USDA Rules. I am hearing all sorts of things. What do YOU have to say?

Zev

[Erik]

I confused on the testing requirements. From what I understood, the delta 9 reading isn’t necessarily considered on its own anymore I’m under the impression that they will either decarboxylate the THCa or use a formula to generate a total THC figure which will be determinative. I don’t like that at all, since there’s no way to determine how much THCa would be converted to delta 9 THC as opposed to delta 8 or THCV. I would think that’s strain dependent and can vary. I’m no geneticist, but given the wide cannabinoid differences in a myriad of strains, I would think that the THCa conversion may not be uniform across the board. Also, the .3% ceiling seems to have been a randomly selected number. I’m not aware of any data that says .3% delta 9 is functionally different than .4% or .5%. There’s simply no data. If the USDA wants to move off the delta 9 standard (decarboxylated with moisture content factored in) and move to a total Potential THC standard, then they need to raise the ceiling to 1% or so or at least allow a farmer to remediate. For a small farmer to grow even 2-5 acres of hemp, only to have to destroy it b/c the potential THC exceeds .5% – even though delta 9 THC is undetectable – is overly harsh. It will destroy the little guy.

[RAW Moderator]

Erik,
While the USDA rules have been posted we expect that we will not see any enforcement before the first of the year. Even then the USDA understands that several of their rules will have large impacts on the industry and it may be a “wait and see” situation to see what level of enforcement take splace.

Personally I would like to see thousands of letters going to the USDA comment portal saying that a 1% totalTHC level make much more sense and still”protects” users from getting high.

[Author]

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