A bill proposed in South Carolina aims to regulate and tax intoxicating hemp-derived products such as delta-8 and delta-10 THC. The measure would also require laboratory testing of the products. 

Under the proposal, hemp-derived cannabinoid products would carry a 5% tax which would be deposited into a special account in the state general fund and allocated to the state Department of Agriculture to be used exclusively for the regulation of hemp-derived cannabinoid products, according to the bill text. The measure would also set an age limit of 21 to purchase the products. 

The bill would also impose a $500 annual licensing fee for producers and a $250 annual fee for retailers that’s sell the products, require safety labeling and child-resistant packaging.  

The measure would impose the regime on seven intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids – including delta-8, delta-10, THCo, THCp, THCv, THCa, and hexhydrocannabinol – but excludes non-intoxicating cannabinoid products, such as CBD, CBG, CBT, CBL, CBE and CBN. 

In 2021, the state Attorney General’s Office issued an opinion that bolstered an analysis by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division that the state’s Hemp Farming Act “did not legalize THC except when defined in lawful hemp.” Last month, in a letter to South Carolina’s Law Enforcement Division chief, state Assistant Attorney General David S. Jones said that delta-8 THC – or any other forms of THC derived from hemp – is not legal under the state’s hemp law.

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