The lows of an unregulated high: Teens are using marijuana alternative delta-8

In U.S. states that have legalized recreational cannabis, you must be at least 21 years old to purchase it from a dispensary. But some teenagers have found a way around this by obtaining a marijuana offshoot drug called delta-8 THC, which is far less regulated and typically easier to obtain. A new study has revealed that teens are using delta-8 on a much wider scale than originally thought.  

The study, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found that 11.4% of high school seniors have used delta-8 in the past year. Previously, the scope of teenage usage of delta-8 had gone mostly unreported.

Delta-8 comes from the hemp of the cannabis plant and is similar to delta-9, the main ingredient in THC, but produces a less-potent high. As such, it is sometimes called "light weed" or "diet weed," but while it doesn't produce as strong of a high, it still affects the chemical makeup of the brain. Unlike regulated marijuana, delta-8 products "have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA for safe use in any context," the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. As a result, while teenage usage continues to rise, many questions remain about the effects of the drug.

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Delta-8 wasn't prohibited

While recreational marijuana remains highly regulated in states where it is legal, delta-8 has fewer restrictions — and in some states, none at all. Despite questions over its potential health risks, delta-8 is "already extremely accessible to teens," Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said to The Hill. One of the main issues surrounding delta-8 is that it comes directly from hemp, because there was "federal legislation, which is referred to as the farm bill, that legalized manufacturing of hemp forms of the cannabis plant," Adam Leventhal, the author of the JAMA study and the executive director of the USC Institute for Addiction Science, said to The Hill. 

This legislation was passed to allow easier access for hemp's usage in textiles, but the "policy didn't necessarily call out other types of intoxicating chemicals as being prohibited," Leventhal said. This is concerning because the "adolescent brain is still forming and exposure to intoxicating substances can interfere with proper development of the brain pathways that support cognition and emotion regulation."

The spread of delta-8 drug markets is an "unintended consequence of Congress legalizing hemp," Paul Demko said for Politico. As a result, an "increasingly large share of the hemp being legally grown — exact figures are impossible to pin down — is now converted into legally hazy psychoactive products" such as delta-8, Demko said. It's concerning that both children and adults can access the drug that faces little of the "rigorous testing requirements and purchasing limits that typically apply to state-legal cannabis markets," said Demko.

In many states, experts "don't know the potency" of the drug, Renee Johnson, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, said to NPR. There are also few regulations around delta-8 labels, and "when there is labeling, studies show that the labels are wrong. There are no standards for how this stuff is manufactured."

Delta-8 'may appeal to kids'

One factor that makes delta-8 so popular is that, because of its lax regulations, it "comes in many forms that may appeal to kids, like gummies, chocolate, cookies, vaping cartridges, sodas and even breakfast cereals," Jen Christensen said for CNN. And unlike recreational marijuana, which is only sold in age-restricted dispensaries, delta-8 has no age restrictions for purchasing and is "easily accessible since it is sold in convenience stores, gas stations and online," said Christensen. 

This doesn't mean that delta-8 is completely unrestricted, though — the drug is "banned in 17 states and severely restricted in seven more," according to the National Cannabis Industry Association. But there are also 22 states where delta-8 is legal with limited restrictions, the Association noted — and only five of these states "have even passed laws preventing youth from buying delta-8," the Association said.

"I don't think anyone thought this was going to happen when the farm bill passed,” Ziva Cooper, the director of the Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids at UCLA, said to NBC News. "The genie is kind of out of the bottle at this point."