Legal Status of Hemp Delta-9 By State

Although the baseline law is the 2018 Farm Bill, which most states simply transcribe into their state laws, some states have taken different approaches. Generally, we can classify states’ hemp delta-9 laws as either keeping it legal, restricting it through regulation or outright banning it. However, some laws that are technically “restrictions” effectively ban a large proportion of products, and we’ll put these in a separate section. There are also some states actively in the process of making laws.

States Where Hemp Delta-9 is Legal

Hemp-derived delta-9 THC products are legal in 42 states, plus Puerto Rico and D.C., with these states essentially following the Farm Bill when it comes to delta-9 and having no substantial legal challenges in progress. This means that it’s limited to being 0.3% delta-9 by dry weight, but that’s it. However, some of them do have laws specifically addressing delta-8 THC, and these in particular may bring in legislation addressing hemp delta-9 soon.

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Puerto Rico
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Virginia
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming
  • Washington D.C.

States Where Hemp Delta-9 is Restricted

California is the only state with general “restrictions” on hemp delta-9, with several others incorporating other THCs into the 0.3% limit of the Farm Bill, but at present these laws don’t restrict hemp delta-9. The restrictions in California involve testing requirements, include all THCs in the limit and place restrictions on things like packaging.

States That Ban Conversions of Cannabinoids

While not many states have laws explicitly addressing hemp delta-9 in their laws (apart from re-stating the limit imposed by the Farm Bill), the push to get control over delta-8 has some additional consequences in many states. Delta-8 products are generally made by converting CBD into delta-8 chemically, and some states have opted to ban this process rather than delta-8 specifically. However, our analysis of the hemp delta-9 market showed that almost two-thirds of hemp delta-9 products use extremely similar conversions that are also outlawed by regulations like this. These states are:

  • Colorado
  • North Dakota
  • Washington

States Where Hemp Delta-9 is Banned

Idaho is the only state where hemp delta-9 is explicitly banned. This is because the Uniform Controlled Substances Act for the state makes it clear that hemp products can’t contain any percentage of THC or its isomers. This puts delta-8, delta-9 and any other THC completely out of the picture, and kills much of the CBD industry too.

Lee Johnson·Policy·July 4, 2022. “Is Hemp Delta-9 THC Legal? A State-by-State Guide (July 2022).” CBD Oracle, 4 July 2022, https://cbdoracle.com/news/policy/hemp-delta-9-thc-legal/.