LAWRENCE, Kan. — A Kansas hemp retailer is suing the state over raids to his Topeka store after the attorney general said Delta-8 is an illegal controlled substance.

Terpene Distribution owner Murray Dines’ lawsuit argues that delta-8 products are derived from hemp and contain less than 0.3% of delta-9 THC, deeming the products as legal under federal law.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s opinion determined that cigarettes, cigars, teas and vaping devices which contain delta-8 THC fall under the Schedule I classification of controlled substances:

From the foregoing analysis, we opine that Delta-8 THC comes within the definition of a Schedule I controlled substance and is unlawful to possess or sell in Kansas unless it is made from industrial hemp and is contained in a lawful hemp product having no more than 0.3% total tetrahydrocannabinols (THC). Unlawful hemp products include cigarettes, cigars, teas, and substances for use in vaping devices. Delta-8 THC derived from any source other than industrial hemp is a Schedule I controlled substance and unlawful to possess or sell in Kansas. Other federal and state laws and regulations place additional limits on the legality of products containing THC and other cannabinoids.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt

Dines, who now operates in Lawrence, Kansas, said that the raids executed by the Topeka Police Department seized over $120,000 worth of cash, containers, supplies, hemp derivatives and products, but argues Schmidt’s opinion was used as authority, and violated the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Act).

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 defines hemp as:

The term ‘hemp’ means the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds thereof
and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.

2018 Farm Act – SEC. 297A. Definitions

Since the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill, which authorized nationwide growing of hemp, products with delta-9 THC have come to the forefront in a sort of “loophole.”

Dines’ federal lawsuit also argues that Kansas law states that:

2-3905. Commercial industrial hemp act; legislative intent. (a) It is the intent of the legislature of the state of Kansas that the implementation of the commercial industrial hemp act by the Kansas department of agriculture shall be conducted in the least restrictive manner allowed under federal law.

Article 30. – INDUSTRIAL HEMP

However, legislation drafted by the Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes with language passed by the legislature says hemp products made for human consumption is unlawful.

any other hemp product intended for human or animal consumption containing any ingredient derived from industrial hemp that is prohibited pursuant to the Kansas food, drug and cosmetic act, K.S.A. 65-636 et seq., and amendments thereto, and the commercial feeding stuffs act, K.S.A. 2-1001 et seq., and amendments thereto.

Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes

According to a spokesperson from the attorney general’s office: “The Office of the Attorney General has not been served with a lawsuit.”