Others testified that lawmakers didn’t understand the benefits of cannabis plants, delta-8 extraction methods or how their bill could ban some cannabidiol products, or CBD. While several lawmakers pushed back on this CBD claim, commenters raised concerns about the terms “synthetic” and the bill’s lack of a definition for “psychoactive.”

“There’s CBD, which is considered a non-psychoactive, but by definition, it is a psychoactive because it alters your mood state,” said Marcus Jones, operations manager for Platte Hemp Company. “It elevates your mood state.”

Lawmakers, for their part, made it clear they didn’t want to harm hemp farming or CBD.

“If for one instance I feel this bill is going to prohibit CBD … I’m not voting for it, and I’m guessing most everybody on the committee is not going to vote for it,” said Rep. Barry Crago (R-Buffalo).

Still, lawmakers like Rep. Ember Oakley (R-Riverton) felt the committee’s intention was clear enough to move forward with the legislation.

“I think this closes a hole that we’re hearing about delta-8 being abused,” she said, specifically noting younger people who’ve used it.

There have been reports of Cody High School students being sent to the hospital after consuming delta-8.

Revisiting delta-8

A main target of the bill is Wyoming’s booming delta-8 market, which grew out of a perceived loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill. That federal law legalized hemp, and delta-8 can be synthesized from hemp’s CBD. That process often involves synthetic substances, some of which have caused alarm among federal agencies like the Food and Drug Administration.

Delta-8 THC has a similar structure and effect as the naturally occurring delta-9 THC in marijuana — the component that can get you high. However, only delta-9 was limited to 0.3% on a “dry weight basis” in Farm Bill language, later parroted in Wyoming’s own laws. Without a specific ban, many have taken this to mean any non-delta-9 THC is allowed.

Delta-8 naturally occurs in hemp in small amounts and has many similarly structured cousins — like delta-10 — that are also marketed in Wyoming.

Synthetic THC substances are already technically illegal in Wyoming, and while most delta-8 products come from synthetic instead of natural processes, a Wyoming Crime Lab employee has testified that their tests can’t tell the two apart.

Proponents of delta-8 have argued that the product is still natural, and while synthetic chemicals are used in synthesizing the substance, they’re used in synthesizing drugs like aspirin, too.

Even federal officials have argued over whether the Farm Bill made delta-8 legal, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found last year that it did. Meanwhile, Drug Enforcement Administration officials have said delta-8 isn’t legal because it’s made synthetically. Future federal rules are expected in this arena, but that’s unlikely to slow Wyoming’s roll.

Still, federal laws could put Wyoming in a tough spot, Rep. Karlee Provenza (D-Albany) suggested. The state can’t inhibit interstate commerce of a federally legal substance. If residents could still order the substance online and use it in Wyoming, Provenza said, banning retail could backfire.

“Then we’re just harming Wyoming businesses when I can still purchase the product and use it in my home,” Provenza said.

Testimony

Monday’s public testimony elicited passion, fears and tears.

“I will never forget the day we brought my dad home after his first round of cancer treatments,” said Max Esdale of Cheyenne.

A father Esdale had known as a strong, hard-working and independent man now couldn’t stand on his own two feet.

“He was unable to eat, he couldn’t sleep,” he said. “The pain was just written deep in lines on his face.”

While Veterans Affairs helped him, Esdale said, they couldn’t talk about the marijuana plants his dad was growing illegally in his backyard. They’re something Esdale said helped him sleep, eat and made pain manageable without opioids. That was 16 years ago, and Esdale’s father is still around.