“Businesses who choose to participate in Missouri’s marijuana industry don’t get to decide what rules and which portions of the [constitution] they want to adhere to.”
By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent
Delta Extraction’s marijuana manufacturing license has been revoked by the Division of Cannabis Regulation after the state accused the company of importing “marijuana products” that were illegally imported from outside the state and adding them to Missouri-grown marijuana.
The cancellation will come into effect on December 2, 2009.
Robertsville’s company was at the heart of Missouri’s massive recall on marijuana that was announced on August 14. The state has recently reversed part of the recall. However, the fate of over 45,000 recalled marijuana products and those of dozens businesses that would suffer a financial loss should the products be destroyed is still uncertain.
Delta will likely also be able to appeal its license revocation at an Administrative Hearing Commission hearing in December.
Amy Moore, the director of the division announced the decision in a news release on Thursday.
Delta Extraction denied allegations that it had illegally imported marijuana to the state. It argued that it imported a nonpsychoactive product called THC-A that was then converted in Missouri into the psychoactive Delta-9 THC. Hemp isn’t a controlled substance under federal law.
Chuck Hatfield is the attorney for Delta Extraction. He said that “the department’s actions were illegal and unfounded.” The issue is that Delta used legal hemp products to make its legal marijuana, which was tested by the state before being sold to consumers.
Delta argues in its appeal that Missouri did not specifically prohibit adding hemp-derived THCA to marijuana products before the state’s Final Rules came into effect on July 30,
Hatfield claimed that the division did not inform the company of the violation until August 2, when the license was suspended.
Hatfield, in an interview with The Independent referred to an e-mail sent by Adam Whearty two days prior to Delta’s suspension. This email was discovered during the appeals procedure. Hatfield says the email shows Whearty, and Heather Bilyeu (Delta’s main contact at the compliance office), were confused about what was permitted.
Whearty wrote: “Heather believes they found a hole in the [emergency] regulations, before 7/30. She does not believe THC-A was included in the category that could not be used” until the final cannabis laws took effect on the 30th of July. “Heather & I are worried about what we would tell Delta about the modified product they have in their inventory …”
The state has, however, argued during the appeals procedure that the emergency regulations filed on 20 January prohibited this practice.
Carole Iles, Administrative Hearing Commission, sided with the State in an August 29, order. She wrote that the only addition to the line by the cannabis regulatory agency in the final rules was the clause, “such as THC …”
The order that denied a stay of suspension for Delta states: “We agree that the language added to permanent rule…didn’t change the requirement that THC products must be derived only from marijuana grown by Missouri-licensed facilities.”
Next month, Delta will hold a hearing to appeal the license revocation and recall.
Moore stated in a press release on Thursday that Delta’s use hemp THC-A wasn’t the only reason behind the revocation.
Moore stated that “While Delta Extraction’s use of cannabis from out-of state in our regulated system is well-publicized, and a critical issue,” DCR found numerous violations of the rules at this facility.
Delta also failed to maintain proper video surveillance footage, or provide the necessary safeguards for preventing intrusion into the facility. The division claims that Delta falsified tracking records of products, and regulators were unable to ensure the product had been properly tested.
Hatfield wrote to the State’s Attorney on Wednesday and said that the company had tested the product according to law.
Hatfield also wrote that Delta agreed to pay for the retesting of all Delta products, and to destroy the entire product stock in its facility, in order to reach an agreement with the state.
Hatfield’s note states that “should the parties fail to reach an agreement, Delta will challenge the Department’s right to regulate hemp-derived product.”
A judge ruled that the courts would not hear a lawsuit against the state before Delta Extraction completed its appeal process.
Missouri will then join several other states in which companies challenge the authority of state cannabis regulators to regulate hemp. Hemp, unlike marijuana, has very few psychoactive properties. This is why hemp was removed from the federal controlled substances list in the 2018 Farm Bill.
Since then, companies have raced to find ways to produce delta-9 THC, the psychoactive element most prevalent in marijuana.
A federal judge in Arkansas issued a preliminary injunction on September 8 in a lawsuit filed against the state. The judge said that hemp-derived cannabis cannabinoids like THC-A are protected by the 2018 Farm Bill.
Hatfield wrote that “should Delta succeed in this challenge”, the industry could bring in industrial hemp from outside of the state to be used in marijuana products.
The original publication of this story was by Missouri Independent.
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The post Missouri Officials Revocate Marijuana License Due to Alleged Out-of-State Imports first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
