Business
Utah to seek curbs on delta-8 THC, other synthetics in medical marijuana market
Utah regulators say they’re pushing for new rules governing the presence of delta-8 THC and other synthetic cannabinoids allowed in the state’s medical marijuana supply.
The regulators are reacting after patient advocates, product makers and researchers sounded the alarm over safety concerns in an MMJ market that Utah voters legalized in 2018.
The first medical cannabis pharmacies – as MMJ dispensaries are called in Utah – opened in 2020 after the state Legislature and then-Republican Gov. Gary Hebert made later tweaks.
Those tweaks make Utah an outlier among its more liberal neighbors such as Colorado and Nevada, according to patient advocates and researchers.
Unlike those two states, Utah law currently allows “THC analogs” into edibles, vaporizer cartridges and other products sold in state-licensed pharmacies.
Analogs are defined as “a substance that is structurally or pharmacologically similar to, or is represented as being similar to, delta-9-THC.”
State officials admit this has made it legal for MMJ pharmacies to sell products that contain delta-8 THC as well as other controversial synthetic derivatives with unknown safety profiles, including delta-6 and delta-10 THC.
Underscoring concerns from researchers and advocates, Utah patients have reported adverse effects such as blackouts after using products containing delta-8 THC, which other states have banned.
Largely unknown to the public before passage of the 2018 Farm Bill – which triggered a flood of hemp and hemp-derived products nationwide – delta-8 THC can be created from CBD isolate via a chemical process.
That process is almost entirely unregulated.
Experts have said that the chemical process might also taint the end product with contaminants that are unknown to science and not detected during laboratory analysis.
Authorities also blamed delta-8 THC for the May death of a Virginia toddler, whose mother was charged with homicide.
Although, to date, “no public health body has recognized a synthetic cannabinoid as a toxic or deleterious substance,” the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) is asking for changes to state law “that would allow us to restrict the presence of synthetic cannabinoids in products in Utah, even if they have not been demonstrated to be toxic,” said Brandon Forsyth, the director of the agency’s Cannabis and Hemp Division.
“This is being done out of an abundance of caution,” Forsyth told MJBizDaily via email.
Whether the changes would impose limits or an outright ban is “still being discussed,” he added.
“As I’m sure you can appreciate, there are a lot of details to consider.”
‘Hot-button deal’
The UDAF’s pivot to consider new rules follows a monthslong public-safety campaign led by marijuana manufacturers and patients, some of whom say that products containing delta-8 THC purchased at state-licensed MMJ pharmacies caused troubling complications.
Other critics have said that Utah’s allowances for delta-8 THC and other analogs allows so-called “hot hemp” into the state medical cannabis program, charges regulators have denied.
“This is a super-hot-button deal,” said Blake Smith, a trained biochemist and chief scientific officer at Zion Medicinal, a licensed manufacturer in Salt Lake City that makes oils and other products sold at MMJ pharmacies across the state.
Smith expressed familiar concerns over these understudied analogs’ unknown safety profiles.
He and other advocates have called for state authorities to more strictly regulate Utah MMJ products – and, if necessary, ban analogs outright.
“Here’s the deal: Lack of data does not equal safety,” he said. “If we don’t know anything about these things that we just discovered, we should probably not be giving them to cancer patients.
“I think that’s perfectly reasonable, and yet, nobody seems to be moving in that direction.”
Alex Iorg is the co-founder of Salt Lake City-based WholesomeCo Cannabis, which sells products such as vaporizer cartridges that contain delta-6 and delta-10 THC, according to the company’s website.
That disclosure is a recent development, an update made “to improve transparency of the presence of these cannabinoids,” Iorg said.
“In the end, we rely on and comply with the state’s guidance on testing requirements and patient safety,” he said, noting that “a lot is unknown about these cannabinoids.”
He also questioned whether other states might also have synthetic cannabinoids in their regulated medical cannabis products supplies.
“State regulators suggested this may not just be a Utah issue but, rather, a national cannabis issue,” he said.
“We are curious to find this out as well, as Utah’s cannabis production standards and practices did not originate in Utah.”
In a Nov. 3 news release, the UDAF acknowledged “recent increases in the availability of products that contain poorly characterized cannabinoids,” including “cannabinoids that are produced semi-synthetically/synthetically,” such as delta-8.
The department pulled some products from shelves over safety concerns, but those holds were lifted by the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) – which directly oversees the Utah medical cannabis program – after the agency was “unable to find any evidence that these cannabinoids are harmful to human health at this time,” according to the UDAF.
OK, as long as it’s labeled
That release followed an Oct. 25 hearing in which Rich Oborn, director of the DHHS’ Center for Medical Cannabis, confirmed that Utah allows “synthetic and derivative cannabinoids,” provided they “are listed on cannabis product labels.”
Patients concerned about the safety of such products “should talk with their medical provider and/or a medical cannabis pharmacist to determine if they should use products with synthetic and derivative cannabinoids,” he added, according to meeting minutes and a recording.
The DHHS did not immediately respond to an MJBizDaily request for comment.
State lawmakers are expected to revisit medical marijuana regulations during the legislative session that begins in February.
That isn’t nearly enough for Zion Medicinal’s Smith and for outside observers such as Dr. Ethan Russo, a neurologist and acknowledged national expert.
In a letter he submitted to state authorities and shared with MJBizDaily, Russo pointed out that “it is possible to make a blanket assertion that all products with delta-8-THC content of significant concentrations are contaminated with delta-6-, delta-10-THC, possibly other isomers, and residual solvents, making them public health risks.”
Since “no formal studies” into these analogs’ toxicology and effects in humans have been conducted, these products should be pulled from shelves and not sold until they are studied, he said.
Blackouts, lack of trust
During that Oct. 25 meeting, several patients told state regulators that they suffered blackouts and other serious aftereffects after using state-licensed products that contained delta-8 THC and that the synthetics pose serious concerns.
Before making a recent purchase, “I had an hourlong conversation with a pharmacist, expressing I needed good, clean medicine,” medical marijuana patient Mitchell Butterfield said.
That pharmacist led him to purchase a vaporizer cartridge that indicated it contained delta-8 THC, he said.
“I asked him what was in it, and he said, ‘It’s still just THC. The state just makes it label it that way,’” Butterfield said.
He bought it and brought it home. He hit it and, “after five minutes, I started yawning uncontrollably and then I blacked out,” he said.
“In 50 years’ experience with this plant, I have never had an experience like that,” said Butterfield, who added that the MMJ pharmacy refused to give him a refund and instead offered him only half off a future purchase.
“I don’t trust the CBD products on the market because of all the synthetics. … The delta-9 and -6 and all of that garbage,” Emily Tucker, a patient who said she has a teenaged son who wants to treat anxiety with CBD but is fearful about product quality, said during the meeting with regulators.
“I want to keep him safe. I don’t want him to get high because people are trying to make a cheap high.”
Christine Stenquist, the founder and president of nonprofit advocacy group Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education (TRUCE), said the only acceptable level of THC analogs “is zero.”
“If you can’t create quality products, you should not have a license in this state,” she told MJBizDaily.
While she welcomes limits on synthetics, she faulted state regulators for trying to “minimize safety concerns from the beginning” and says she’s heard rumors that synthetic analogs will still be allowed under new legislation, though with age limits.
“We never wanted synthetics in the program,” she said. “They’re only acting out of abundance of caution because I am raising Cain everywhere.”
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/utah-medical-marijuana-market-curbs-on-delta-8-thc-other-synthetics/
Agriculture & Life Sciences
Canada’s Cannabis Industry Urges Government to Support Growing Export Market
BuzzBuzz Cannabis Business News — 24 November 2025
Canada’s cannabis sector is calling on federal and provincial governments to recognize its fast-growing export potential and extend the same support other regulated industries receive. Industry leaders warn that Canada is losing its early global advantage due to slow regulatory processes, lack of trade promotion, and limited access to government-backed financing.
Canada’s medical-cannabis exporters now generate more than half a billion dollars annually and ship products to major markets including Germany, the UK, Australia, and Poland. Despite this, cannabis remains largely absent from Canada’s official trade and export strategies.
Industry Calls for Streamlined Export System
Paul McCarthy, President of the Cannabis Council of Canada, says the country has everything required to dominate the global medical cannabis trade—except government alignment.
“Our requests are simple,” McCarthy said. “Expedite Health Canada’s export-permit process, integrate cannabis into federal export programs like Global Affairs Canada trade missions and CanExport, and ensure provinces include cannabis in their export strategies.”
He stressed the need for mutual recognition agreements with importing countries to eliminate redundant testing and documentation. Access to Export Development Canada (EDC) and Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) services also remains off-limits to cannabis exporters, placing them at a steep disadvantage.
“This industry does not just need permission to operate,” McCarthy added. “It needs to be treated like every other legitimate contributor to Canada’s trade objectives.”
Competitors Are Moving Faster
McCarthy warns that while Canada pioneered medical cannabis standards, other countries are rapidly advancing with more flexible and export-friendly systems.
“Faster approvals, lower compliance costs, and active government-backed strategies are helping other nations catch up,” he said. “Canada’s regulatory friction is already costing us global market share.”
Export permits currently must be issued for each shipment—a process that can take weeks—and Canadian testing standards often differ from international requirements, forcing companies to repeat expensive compliance checks.
High Tide CEO: Canada Needs a National Export Strategy
Raj Grover, CEO of High Tide Inc., says Canada risks surrendering its leadership if policymakers remain inactive.
“Canada developed the world’s most advanced cannabis regulatory system and contributed $76.5 billion to GDP since legalization,” Grover said. “But without a National Cannabis Export Strategy, we will lose ground to Australia, Israel, Portugal, and other emerging competitors.”
He noted that Canada’s industry table created by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) has not met in more than a year—an opportunity wasted.
Grover urged the federal government to introduce domestic GMP certification and potency standards to streamline international market access. “Canadian producers must currently get GMP approval country by country. It’s duplicative and costly. Canada should be setting global benchmarks, not chasing them.”
Germany: A Key Market for Canadian Firms
High Tide recently expanded into Europe with its majority acquisition of Germany’s Remexian Pharma GmbH, giving the company a direct import and distribution channel in Europe’s largest medical-cannabis market.
“Our German strategy is already structured for success,” Grover said. “Through Remexian, we can supply premium medical cannabis at the lowest possible price, helping meet Germany’s quality and cost demands.”
Grover also warned that U.S. companies are already purchasing Canadian firms to stage their own international expansion—another sign that Canada’s leadership position is slipping.
Government Response Remains Limited
In response to industry concerns, a Global Affairs Canada spokesperson said the Trade Commissioner Service “continues to support exporters of cannabis for medical and scientific purposes that have obtained Health Canada permits.”
However, industry leaders argue that this support is minimal and does not include key tools such as trade missions, export credits, or bilateral agreements that other sectors routinely receive.
A Closing Window of Opportunity
With medical-cannabis exports already exceeding $500 million annually, industry executives say Canada must act quickly to preserve its competitive edge.
As McCarthy warns, without coordinated government support, Canada risks losing high-value pharmaceutical manufacturing, research investments, and thousands of skilled jobs.
And as Grover’s expansion into Germany demonstrates, the industry is moving forward—but whether Canada moves with it may determine if the country remains a global leader or becomes a pioneer that let others capitalize on its breakthroughs.
Business
A Tipping Point for Cannabis: President Trump Champions CBD & Cannabis Science on Truth Social
When the President of the United States shares a video about the life changing potential of hemp derived CBD on his personal social media platform, it is more than news, it is a cultural shift.
For decades our government lied to us about cannabis. It demonized the plant, waged war on its users, and filled prisons while allowing pharmaceutical companies to flood the nation with addictive and deadly drugs. For over a century we have been fighting uphill, not just for legalization, but for truth, for science, and for the right to heal ourselves naturally.
Now in 2025, the most powerful political figure on Earth is using his own voice and platform to talk about the endocannabinoid system and the science backed benefits of CBD. That is monumental. It is validation for everyone who has fought, been arrested, been silenced, and been dismissed for telling this truth. The President’s video post is already being described as a pivotal moment in cannabis history, and President Trump CBD Cannabis Science Truth Social is trending across platforms as advocates celebrate the breakthrough.
The Science Behind the Endocannabinoid System
The video begins by introducing something most people, including many doctors, still know little about, the endocannabinoid system. Discovered in the 1990s, the ECS is a network of receptors and signaling molecules that works as the body’s master regulator, coordinating communication between major systems like the nervous, immune, cardiovascular, and digestive systems.
The roots of this discovery go back much further. CBD was first isolated in 1940 by American chemist Roger Adams, but it was Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, an Israeli organic chemist, who fully elucidated the chemical structure of CBD and identified its stereochemistry in the 1960s. His pioneering work not only opened the door to modern cannabinoid science but also earned him the title “Godfather of Cannabis Research.” It was this foundation that led to the identification of the endocannabinoid system itself decades later, revealing how cannabinoids interact with our physiology on a fundamental level.
The ECS is now widely recognized as a vital part of human biology, with extensive research supported by the National Institutes of Health. When functioning properly, the ECS acts like the conductor of an orchestra, ensuring every section plays in harmony. As we age, the system weakens. That imbalance is linked to inflammation, chronic pain, cognitive decline, sleep problems, and many other conditions associated with aging.
Mainstream medicine often addresses these issues with pharmaceutical band aids, dangerous and addictive drugs that treat symptoms rather than root causes. Lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise help, but they only partially support the ECS and do so slowly over time.
Hemp Derived CBD: A Game Changer for Aging
Here is where the science gets exciting. As the video explains, the ECS can be restored much more quickly with hemp derived CBD. Strengthening this system naturally helps the body regain balance, reducing pain, improving sleep, lowering stress, slowing disease progression, and even extending healthy lifespan.
It is not theoretical. One in five seniors is already using CBD to manage pain, arthritis, cancer symptoms, sleep disorders, Alzheimer’s, and more. Despite decades of research and acknowledgment from institutions like the National Institutes of Health, most physicians receive no training on the ECS. There are still no FDA standards for CBD products on the market. If that were the case for any other class of medicine, it would be considered malpractice.
The World Health Organization has confirmed CBD’s excellent safety profile and non addictive nature in its critical review report. The result is that millions of older Americans are suffering unnecessarily when a safe and natural solution exists.
Hemp derived CBD is a powerful first step in restoring balance to the endocannabinoid system, but it is only part of the picture. Research shows that full spectrum cannabis extracts, which include a broader range of cannabinoids and terpenes, can work even more effectively. Complete concentrated cannabis oil, containing the full spectrum of natural endocannabinoids, may deliver the most profound results for certain patients. Expanding access to these therapies will be essential if we want to unlock the full healing potential of this plant.
The Economic and Social Impact
The video cites a powerful figure. A PricewaterhouseCoopers analysis estimates that fully integrating cannabis into the healthcare system could save the United States nearly 64 billion dollars annually. These savings reflect reduced pharmaceutical dependency, fewer hospitalizations, improved chronic disease outcomes, and enhanced quality of life for aging Americans. You can read more about PwC’s research on healthcare innovation here.
It is a financial argument, but it is also a moral one. Why should our elders endure pain, anxiety, and cognitive decline when nature has given us tools to help them live longer, happier, and healthier lives?
A Call to Action: Finish What the Farm Bill Started
The message concludes by crediting the 2018 Farm Bill, championed by President Trump, for legalizing hemp and laying the groundwork for today’s CBD market. The Farm Bill was just the first step.
Now the call is for bold next moves.
- Educate doctors about the endocannabinoid system
- Include CBD under Medicare coverage
- Provide clear federal standards for CBD quality and dosing
These steps would constitute the most significant senior health reform in modern history, one that would transform aging and cement a powerful legacy for any administration that makes it happen.
What This Means for Future Cannabis Medicine
For those of us who have been in the cannabis community for decades, this is not just another news story. It is a signal that our movement is winning. A conversation that was once criminalized and censored is now being amplified by the President of the United States on his own platform.
It means the science is undeniable. It means the truth can no longer be buried. It means the wall of prohibition is cracking, not just legally, but culturally, scientifically, and politically.
It also means that everything we have been fighting for at 420 Magazine since 1993, education, access, healing, and justice, is finally moving full steam ahead. The President Trump CBD Cannabis Science Truth Social moment is proof that science and policy are finally converging.
New Mexico regulators fined a cannabis operator nearly $300,000 and revoked its license after the company allegedly created fake reports in the state’s traceability software.
The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) accused marijuana manufacturer and retailer Golden Roots of 11 violations, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Golden Roots operates the The Cannabis Revolution Dispensary.
The majority of the violations are related to the Albuquerque company’s improper use of BioTrack, which has been New Mexico’s track-and-trace vendor since 2015.
The CCD alleges Golden Roots reported marijuana production only two months after it had received its vertically integrated license, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Because cannabis takes longer than two months to be cultivated, the CCD was suspicious of the report.
After inspecting the company’s premises, the CCD alleged Golden Roots reported cultivation, transportation and sales in BioTrack but wasn’t able to provide officers who inspected the site evidence that the operator was cultivating cannabis.
In April, the CCD revoked Golden Roots’ license and issued a $10,000 fine, according to the news outlet.
The company requested a hearing, which the regulator scheduled for Sept. 1.
At the hearing, the CCD testified that the company’s dried-cannabis weights in BioTrack were suspicious because they didn’t seem to accurately reflect how much weight marijuana loses as it dries.
Company employees also poorly accounted for why they were making adjustments in the system of up to 24 pounds of cannabis, making comments such as “bad” or “mistake” in the software, Albuquerque Business First reported.
Golden Roots was fined $298,972.05 – the amount regulators allege the company made selling products that weren’t properly accounted for in BioTrack.
The CCD has been cracking down on cannabis operators accused of selling products procured from out-of-state or not grown legally:
- Regulators alleged in August that Albuquerque dispensary Sawmill Sweet Leaf sold out-of-state products and didn’t have a license for extraction.
- Paradise Exotics Distro lost its license in July after regulators alleged the company sold products made in California.
Golden Roots was the first alleged rulebreaker in New Mexico to be asked to pay a large fine.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/new-mexico-cannabis-operator-fined-loses-license-for-alleged-biotrack-fraud/
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