As part of a new federal workplace drug testing rule change announced last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is revising its terminology to reflect a more nuanced understanding of cannabis.
Previously, HHS referred to delta-9 THC merely as “THC,” with no further specification. That failed to distinguish between delta-9 THC—which is found in marijuana—and delta-8 THC, an increasingly prominent psychoactive cannabinoid that can be produced from federally legal hemp.
The agency also previously used “THCA” to refer to a marijuana metabolite, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid. That conflicts with the more common meaning of “THCA” within the cannabis space, where it typically refers to delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinolic acid—a non-psychoactive that can be converted to delta-9 THC through heating.
Going forward, delta-9 THC will be referred to as such. And HHS will now refer to the THC metabolite as delta-9 THCC rather than THCA.
“The new abbreviations are Δ9THC in place of THC and Δ9THCC in place of THCA,” the agency explained in a post on the Federal Register last week. “The new abbreviations are Δ9THC in place of THC and Δ9THCC in place of THCA. Including ‘Δ9’ in these abbreviations distinguishes them from other compounds ( e.g., Δ-8-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid and Δ-8-tetrahydrocannabinol).”
“The revised abbreviation Δ9THCC also distinguishes this marijuana metabolite from Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid in the cannabis plant that is also commonly abbreviated as THCA,” the post continues, referring to THCA as “an important precursor integral to the growth, definition, and production of legal hemp as defined by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).”
The new revisions are “consistent with current scientific nomenclature,” the post from HHS’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) says.
The HHS rule change in which the terminology update appears applies to workplace drug testing of federal employees. In addition to adjusting terminology, the rule adds fentanyl to the list of substances screened for in testing panels.
Other federal agencies have already adjusted how they refer to—and define—various cannabinoids. For example, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said last year that THCA (referring to delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, as HHS’s new terms reflect), should be counted as part of a cannabis product’s total delta-9 THC.
“The ‘decarboxylation’ process converts delta-9-THCA to delta-9-THC,” Terrence Boos, chief of DEA’s drug and chemical evaluation section, wrote in that DEA guidance. “Thus, for the purposes of enforcing the hemp definition, the delta-9 THC level must account for any delta-9 THCA.”
As a result, “cannabis-derived THCA does not meet the definition of hemp,” he concluded, “because upon conversion for identification purposes as required by Congress, it is equivalent to delta-9-THC”
How to classify cannabinoids—and how exactly to measure the 0.3 percent delta-9 THC limit that distinguishes hemp from marijuana under federal law—is expected to be addressed in the next Farm Bill. In November, Senate Democrats released the long-awaited text the new legislation that contained several proposed changes to federal hemp laws.
As currently enacted, a crop is considered federally legal hemp if it contains no more than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC by dry weight. That would be revised under the new bill, making it so hemp would have to be tested for “total THC” content, including cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC and THC-A, and not just delta-9.
That could theoretically lead to a significant upheaval of the hemp industry as it has evolved since the crop was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, restricting not only the varieties of plants that could be cultivated but also the products that would be permitted in the marketplace. Lawmakers have been increasingly targeting intoxicating cannabinoid products that have proliferated in recent years.
In May, GOP House leaders released their own draft version of the agriculture legislation, which could also reduce regulatory barriers for certain hemp farmers and scale-back a ban on industry participation by people with prior drug felony convictions.
But under an amendment adopted by the House Agriculture Committee, it would also remove cannabinoids that are “synthesized or manufactured outside of the plant” from the federal definition of legal hemp. The change is backed by prohibitionists as well as some marijuana companies, who’ve described the restriction as a fix to a “loophole” in the 2018 Farm Bill.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in a report in June that hemp provisions included in that spending bill could also “create confusion” for the industry due to a lack of clarity around the type of allowable products.
Anti-drug groups, law enforcement and some health organizations have called on Congress to embrace the ban, arguing that “trying to regulate semi-synthetic cannabinoids will not work.”
The House Appropriations Committee in July approved a separate spending bill that contains a similar provision to prohibit cannabinoid products such as delta-8 THC and CBD containing any “quantifiable” amount of THC.
Hemp-derived cannabinoids also came up in a recent federal appeals court decision in which judges ruled that cannabinoids derived from hemp, such as THC-O-acetate, indeed qualify as hemp and are legal under the 2018 Farm Bill. In making that ruling, the court rejected the Drug Enforcement Administration’s more restrictive interpretation of the law.
How to address hemp-derived cannabinoids has caused some fractures within the cannabis community, and in some cases marijuana businesses have found themselves on the same side as prohibitionists in pushing a derivatives ban.
Lawmakers and stakeholders have also been eyeing a number of other proposals that could be incorporated into the Farm Bill—and which could come up as proposed amendments as the proposal moves through the legislative process—including measures to free up hemp businesses to legally market products like CBD as dietary supplements or in the food supply.
Last September, a Democratic senator introduced a bill that would create a federal regulatory framework for hemp-derived cannabinoids, allowing states to set their own rules for products such as CBD while also empowering the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that certain safety standards are met in the marketplace—including making sure that products aren’t marketed to children.
Recent USDA data showed a slight rebound in the hemp economy in 2023—the result of a survey that the department mailed to thousands of farmers across the U.S. in January. The first version of the department’s hemp report was released in early 2022, setting a “benchmark” to compare to as the industry matures.
Meanwhile, USDA announced last November that it was once again delaying enforcement of a rule requiring hemp growers to test their crops exclusively at labs registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), citing “setbacks” at the agency that have led to “inadequate” access to such facilities.
Keep out of reach of children. For use only by adults 21 years of age and older.
