The U.S. sat on the sidelines as world leaders on the United Nations Fee on Narcotic Medicine (CND) accredited a advice from the World Well being Group (WHO) on March 12 to ban the cannabinoid HHC on the worldwide stage.
Though the U.S. delegation abstained from casting a vote, the accredited advice may finally impression how HHC is assessed in America in addition to the broader debate on how hashish is scheduled.
HHC, or hexahydrocannabinol, is a semisynthetic compound that’s transformed from THC utilizing a hydrogenation course of. Whereas it’s not new—American chemist Roger Adams discovered HHC in 1944 by including two hydrogen molecules to delta-9 THC—the intoxicating cannabinoid turned extra well-known within the U.S. in late 2021, when producers started promoting merchandise with HHC transformed from hemp-derived cannabinoids comparable to delta-8 THC.
Though some say changing hemp-derived cannabinoids to HHC is compliant with the 2018 Farm Invoice—which federally legalized hemp within the U.S.—Dr. Ethan Russo, M.D., a board-certified neurologist, advised Hashish Enterprise Occasions in February 2022 that the Federal Analogue Act of 1986 prohibits medicine or molecules which can be made out of a Schedule I or II managed substance, notably if they’re “considerably comparable” and supposed for human consumption.
This week in Vienna, the United Nations CND voted to categorise HHC in Schedule II of the 1971 Conference on Psychotropic Substances, a world treaty designed to limit the diversion and abuse of sure medicine. CND delegates on the session mentioned how HHC could be inhaled, consumed and absorbed sublingually, Portugal-based Canna Reporter reported.
Forty-eight international locations forged favorable votes—together with Canada and Uruguay, the place adult-use hashish is federally authorized—which was greater than the two-thirds majority wanted to go, in line with the information outlet. The US, nonetheless, abstained from voting.
Following the adoption, the U.S. Mission to Worldwide Group in Vienna issued the next statement:
“Whereas the US helps using the worldwide scheduling system to make scientifically knowledgeable selections about worldwide drug management, we have been unable to vote on the proposals to put hexahydrocannabinol into Schedule II of the 1971 Conference on Psychotropic Substances and to put carisoprodol into Schedule IV of the 1971 Conference. However, each of those substances are already managed in the US, at ranges that can enable the US to satisfy its worldwide obligations arising from the CND’s selections at present.”
Unrelated to hashish, Carisoprodol is a U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug that relieves discomfort related to acute, painful musculoskeletal circumstances, in line with the Nationwide Institute of Well being.
For HHC, debate on its legality within the U.S. has continued in the course of the previous three years.
Whereas many trade stakeholders declare that HHC naturally happens in hint quantities in hashish, CBT realized in early 2022 that these claims had not been confirmed by peer-reviewed analysis.
In October 2024, the WHO issued a report on HHC suggesting that the semisynthetic cannabinoid “might” be current naturally within the hashish plant in hint quantities.
Nevertheless, in an April 2024 letter to the Louisiana Division of Well being, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) decided that “HHC doesn’t happen naturally within the Hashish sativa L. plant and may solely be obtained synthetically, and due to this fact doesn’t fall underneath the definition of hemp.” This place fell in keeping with an earlier letter the DEA despatched to worldwide hashish lawyer Rod Kight declaring that delta-8 THC and THC-O acetate have been Schedule I managed substances.
HHC, particularly, is often transformed from THC in a hydrogenation course of that entails including hydrogen whereas utilizing a steel catalyst, like palladium, that’s liable to ignite spontaneously upon publicity to air, hashish scientist and educator Greg Gerdeman, Ph.D., advised CBT in 2022. The identical hydrogenation course of is used to transform vegetable oil into margarine.
Regardless of the DEA’s position that HHC, delta-8 THC, THC-O and “all synthetically derived tetrahydrocannabinols” fall underneath the listing of Schedule I managed substances, the U.S. Courtroom of Appeals for the Fourth and Ninth circuits have supplied rulings that contradict the DEA’s viewpoint.
The Fourth Circuit ruled in September 2024 that THC-O meets the authorized definition of hemp underneath the 2018 Farm Invoice, making use of most of the similar issues the Ninth Circuit utilized in its Could 2022 ruling that delta-8 THC is authorized underneath the 2018 Farm Invoice.
Each circuit courts decided that the 2018 Farm Invoice is unambiguous regarding its definition of hemp making use of to “all such downstream merchandise as long as they don’t cross the 0.3 p.c delta-9 THC threshold.”
Particularly for the Ninth Circuit’s ruling from 2022, this unambiguous dedication was essential underneath the Chevron Doctrine: a 1984 case that required federal courts to defer to federal authorities businesses’ interpretations of ambiguous statutes.
The U.S. Supreme Courtroom overturned the Chevron Doctrine in a June 2024 decision for Loper Vibrant Enterprises vs. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce. In different phrases, even had the Fourth Circuit’s September 2024 ruling discovered the 2018 Farm Invoice language to be ambiguous, it nonetheless wouldn’t have needed to defer to the DEA’s interpretation of synthetically derived cannabinoids.
The Fourth and Ninth circuits maintain jurisdiction over 13 states and two U.S. territories the place these synthetically derived hemp cannabinoids are thought of federal legally by the judicial department; nonetheless, merchandise containing these cannabinoids could be prohibited or regulated by state or native legal guidelines.
However the place does HHC within the U.S. stand following the CND’s Schedule II approval on March 12?
Legal professional Jason Adelstone, with Harris Sliwoski LLP, offered his take on the impacts of the CND’s scheduling determination in a Canna Regulation Weblog submit on March 14.
“Ought to the Legal professional Basic [Pam Bondi] schedule HHC pursuant to treaty obligations, it could elevate considerations relating to the unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority to a international physique,” he wrote.
Adelstone outlined a number of situations that might play out between Bondi and U.S. Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. within the coming months.
“Assuming Secretary Kennedy and Legal professional Basic Bondi adhere to 21 U.S.C. § 811 and full a assessment of HHC, or at a minimal, order that HHC be added to a CSA schedule, then the method, and HHC’s final placement, may present priceless insights into the broader hashish scheduling debate,” the lawyer wrote.
Whereas potential motion within the govt department may take greater than six months to unfold, U.S. lawmakers proceed to focus on the definition of hemp in a farm bill reauthorization package that’s been on the backburner since 2023.
