Know Your Rights with Hemp Products
Federal Law – 2018 Farm Bill
Title 7/Subtitle B/Chapter IX/Part 990/Subpart B – Code of Federal Regulation
Abstract:
Other than the definitions listed below, the rest of the farm bill applies specifically to permitted and licensed Hemp Farmers, Producers, and Handles, which are approved at a state level. There is no mention of what is or is not a legal hemp product. Federal law requires the state to monitor and test samples of crop before harvest and the processing of crops to distillate (liquid oil form) from which products are then produced from. Once the crops and processing have been tested by the State Dept of Agriculture, there is no form of oversight requirements on a Federal or South Carolina state level.
Once a hemp product is made, it just needs to be less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC to not be considered Marijuana. Marijuana is legally considered any product/plant/object over 0.3% delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9) on a dry weight basis.
Federal Definitions
When a laboratory tests a sample, it must report the total delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol content concentration level on a dry weight basis and the measurement of uncertainty. The acceptable hemp THC level for the purpose of compliance with the requirements of State or Tribal hemp plans or the USDA hemp plan is when the application of the measurement of uncertainty to the reported total delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol content concentration level on a dry weight basis produces a distribution or range that includes 0.3 percent or less. For example, if the reported total delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol content concentration level on a dry weight basis is 0.35 percent and the measurement of uncertainty is ±0.06 percent, the measured total delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol content concentration level on a dry weight basis for this sample ranges from 0.29 percent to 0.41 percent. Because 0.3 percent is within the distribution or range, the sample is within the acceptable hemp THC level for the purpose of plan compliance. This definition of “acceptable hemp THC level” affects neither the statutory definition of hemp, 7 U.S.C. 1639o(1), in the 2018 Farm Bill nor the definition of “marihuana,” 21 U.S.C. 802(16), in the CSA.
The plant species 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 total delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.
Total THC is the value determined after the process of decarboxylation, or the application of a conversion factor if the testing methodology does not include decarboxylation, that expresses the potential total delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol content derived from the sum of the THC and THCA content and reported on a dry weight basis. This post-decarboxylation value of THC can be calculated by using a chromatograph technique using heat, such as gas chromatography, through which THCA is converted from its acid form to its neutral form, THC. Thus, this test calculates the total potential THC in a given sample. The total THC can also be calculated by using a liquid chromatograph technique, which keeps the THCA intact. This technique requires the use of the following conversion: [Total THC = (0.877 x THCA) + THC] which calculates the potential total THC in a given sample.
South Carolina Law
South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 46 - Agriculture, CHAPTER 55, The Hemp Farming Act
Abstract:
Past Section 46-55-10 for Definitions, Sections 46-55-20 through 46-55-60 only apply to participating and licensed Cultivators, Processors, and Handlers with their requirements to participate in the State program. Hemp product producers, stores selling hemp products, and non-licensed individuals have no requirements, other than ensuring the products are less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC, to any State or Federal agency.
As long as the product tests NO MORE THAN 0.3% delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol on a dry weight basis, the hemp product is legal.
SECTION 46-55-10. Definitions:
(6) "Federally defined THC level for hemp" means a delta-9 THC concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis, or the THC concentration for hemp defined in 7 U.S.C. SECTION 5940, whichever is greater. (See b. Definitions, (2) Industrial hemp)
(9) "Hemp products" means all products with the federally defined THC level for hemp derived from, or made by, processing hemp plants or hemp plant parts, that are prepared in a form available for commercial sale, including, but not limited to, cosmetics, personal care products, food intended for animal or human consumption, cloth, cordage, fiber, fuel, paint, paper, particleboard, plastics, and any product containing one or more hemp-derived cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol. Unprocessed or raw plant material, including nonsterilized hemp seeds, is not considered a hemp product.