I have just finished reading a story out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, involving a medical cannabis dispensary displaying a sign that reads “No Medical Card Needed”. Several residents contacted their local TV news departments to inquire about the legality of such a sign. Their inquiries pose an interesting question: do such signs mislead consumers?
Oklahoma’s Restrictive Regulations
According to FOX23, Oklahoma used to be the proverbial ‘wild west’ of cannabis consumption with thousands of dispensaries and very little oversight. But lawmakers eventually had enough. They strengthened the state’s regulations to the point that Oklahoma is now one of the strictest among the states with medical cannabis programs.
One would think that both the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) and Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) would have something to say about ‘no medical card required’ signs. But that’s not the case. Dispensaries are taking advantage of a legal loophole that allows them to sell certain intoxicating cannabis products with no need for a customer to possess a medical cannabis card.
A Medical Card Is a License
Also known more simply as a ‘medical card’, the state medical cannabis card is essentially license to purchase, possess, and consume medical cannabis products containing THC. The law works the same in Oklahoma as it does in Utah, another state that is fairly restrictive in its regulations.
BeehiveMed, an organization that helps patients in Salt Lake City and Brigham City obtain their medical cards, explains that patients are unlikely to see ‘no medical card required’ signs in the Beehive State because of the way medical cannabis pharmacies are regulated. Still, other types of retailers selling hemp products may display such signs.
Exploiting the Hemp Loophole
Whether in Utah or Oklahoma, a retailer displaying a sign is taking advantage of a loophole in federal regulations. That loophole was created with the 2018 Farm Bill and its legalization of hemp across the board. Hemp can be grown, processed, sold, and possessed by consumers freely and without need of a card.
The interesting thing is that hemp and marijuana are both cultivars of cannabis. The main distinction between the two is the amount of THC in a given plant. A plant with 0.3% or more THC by volume is classified as marijuana. Anything under that threshold is classified as hemp.
Selling a hemp product containing primarily CBD is not an issue. But that’s not what these retailers are doing. Instead, they are selling products containing synthesized THC and other cannabinoids that are derived from hemp.
Synthesizing Delta-8 THC
A fair number of the questionable hemp products contain a cannabinoid known as delta-8. This cannabinoid is synthesized from CBD in a controlled setting. It is an isomer of delta-9 THC, the form of THC that is illegal under federal law.
As an isomer, delta-8 has the exact same chemical makeup as delta-9. It is only different in the sense that its molecules are arranged in a slightly different way. Delta-8 is intoxicating, though its effects are often described as less intense than those of delta-9.
A retailer selling delta-8 products derived from hemp is operating in a gray area created by the federal loophole. In Oklahoma, medical cannabis dispensaries are selling these loophole products alongside state-legal medical cannabis. And to entice customers, they are putting ‘no medical card required’ signs in their doors and windows.
Are the signs misleading? Critics say they are. Proponents insist that retailers are just taking advantage of what state regulations allow. At some point, however, state regulators are going to have to end the confusion by stepping in and settling the question.
