Cannabis Business Executive (CBE), April 18, 2022
Consumer demand and public support for cannabis legalization has led to sweeping reform across the Country. Unfortunately, this appetite combined with a lack of access to regulated marijuana has perpetuated both a robust and unregulated illicit marijuana market, and an unregulated hemp industry where intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids like Delta-8 THC, Delta-9 THC, THC-O and HHC are freely sold directly to consumers. In states like New York, New Jersey and Connecticut that are on the cusp of opening their doors to adult-use programs, and in California, the first state to enact cannabis laws, these unregulated marketplaces thrive, accounting for a large majority of cannabis sales. Such unchecked illicit activity, if permitted to continue, will be the tip of the spear piercing and undermining the regulated cannabis industry.
