Is THCa Legal If It Is Destined To Turn Into THC By The Time You Smoke It?

Medical cannabis programs and local and state initiatives to decriminalize the possession and use of cannabis have created a lot of legally hazy situations. Pennsylvania, like many states, has not decriminalized cannabis at the statewide level, but it has had a medical cannabis program since 2016, and several cities, including Pittsburgh, have decriminalized possession of small quantities of cannabis for personal use. Medical cannabis programs in Pennsylvania and elsewhere have raised many questions about what counts as an illicit drug and what is a potentially therapeutic substance. Consider that every drug listed in the Controlled Substances Act, except those categorized under Schedule I, has a clearly defined set of parameters about who may distribute it. Doctors and pharmacists who deviate from the guidelines can face malpractice claims, and in some cases criminal charges, but they can sometimes cite justifiable reasons for prescribing the drugs off label. Meanwhile, the head shops that sell cannabis adjacent products over the counter are a legal no man’s land. If you operate a cannabis dispensary or smoke shop that sells cannabis-like products, you might reasonably believe that the products you are selling are legal, even if prosecutors claim otherwise. If you are facing criminal charges for selling products that have come into vogue during the medical cannabis era, contact a Pittsburgh drug crime lawyer.

Pennsylvania THC Laws

Consider that when people consume cannabis, they usually smoke the dried leaves or else eat them cooked into cannabis edibles. People do not normally chew raw cannabis leaves or drink cold pressed hemp juice, although the latter has a following in certain corners of the Internet. The active ingredient in marijuana, THC, is present in higher concentrations when the leaves are dried and heated. In the raw leaves, there is less THC and more of one of its precursor chemicals, namely THCa. Products that are marketed as THCa are legally ambiguous. Officially, they count as hemp, not as cannabis, since they have low concentrations of THC, but in practice, they have just as much THC as street corner marijuana by the time you smoke them or eat them. The exception is THCa pills, made from powdered raw cannabis leaves which have not been processed enough for the THCa to turn into THC.

In the News

Christopher Younger and his wife Alex Veoni own several Hippietown stores in the Pittsburgh area. They market their products as “legal weed,” meaning that it has THC concentrations below the legal limit to count as marijuana. Police seized a shipment of product from Younger’s van. Younger maintains that the product is THCa, which is legal to sell at shops like Hippietown, but testing at a forensics lab identified it as marijuana, with THC concentrations above the legal threshold. Now Younger and Veoni are facing criminal charges for drug possession with intent to deliver.

Contact Gary E. Gerson About Criminal Defense Cases

A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges related to the sale of cannabis.  Contact the law offices of Gary E. Gerson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about your case.

Source:

cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/pittsburgh-police-arrest-operators-of-hippietown-stores-on-drug-charges/