TOPEKA Theyre here in Kansas. CBD products with a bit of that oh-so-taboo THC in them. To vape, to put under your tongue.
Some retailers argue those products became legal on July 1 because of tweaks to state regulation of cannabis-related substances in a bill supporting the states fledgling industrial hemp program.
THC is the chemical that puts the high in medical and recreational cannabis. Polls show most Americans want it legalized. Kansas is one of a small handful of states with the most restrictive laws against it.
Other vendors who also believe small amounts of THC became legal in Kansas on July 1 geared up to sell, then got cold feet after a hemp advocacy group posted a warning from a high-level Kansas Bureau of Investigation official on its Facebook page.
Full spectrum is not legal, says the statement, which Kansans for Hemp organizer Kelly Rippel says he received from KBI executive officer Katie Whisman. CBD isolate or CBD containing no other controlled substance is what was carved out as legal.
Full spectrum commonly refers to CBD products that include THC. (Although, buyer beware: Sometimes products labeled full spectrum dont actually contain THC, and sometimes those labeled THC-free actually do have it.)
Multiple people who work in the CBD industry said sales of CBD with THC in it are now common across Kansas. The Kansans News Service easily found it for purchase within state lines.
National retailer CBD American Shaman prepped its website to start selling full spectrum to Kansans starting July 1, but postponed that plan when Whismans quote surfaced in late June. It remains hopeful the KBI is wrong.
Were just not gonna take the chance until its really clear, CEO Vince Sanders said. Its all crazy It is what it is, which is what we deal with in the world that we live.
His Kansas City-based company sells CBD across the country and has become accustomed to an ever-shifting maze of state-by-state regulations.
We know the legislators intent was to have full-spec oil, he said. The revisors (lawyers at the Kansas Statehouse who draw up bills for lawmakers) are writing exactly what the intent was. … We expected to have (a letter of legislative intent) by last Friday. We still dont have it. So again, we expect it any time.
A KBI spokeswoman told the Kansas News Service Friday it knows vendors are confused, and that clarification is needed.
We are currently reviewing the issue, but dont have specific guidance to offer at this time, she wrote.
Sen. Mary Ware, who owns two CBD American Shaman stores in Wichita, says she understood the law to legalize full-spectrum products. A revisor and a Department of Agriculture attorney both assured her that was the case, she said, and she has requested clarification from Attorney General Derek Schmidts Office.
But a Department of Agriculture spokeswoman said in an email that agency doesnt directly regulate CBD oil or how its used or manufactured, including determining what the legal level of THC may be.
