MEMPHIS, Tenn — In 2023, Governor Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 0378 into law, which regulated certain hemp products like Delta-8 and Delta-10.
What those regulations look like will be up to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
In Dec. 2023, the department put out a draft of proposed new rules that have those in the hemp business concerned.
The new regulations would require products to have less than 0.3 percent THC in all its forms, including THCA and Delta-8 THC.
That would make many hemp and THC products currently available in the Volunteer State illegal, which would be a major blow to smoke shops all over Tennessee.
Shelby County has many smoke shops.
“From my last estimate, about 1,600 (businesses),” said Jose Perez, manager of Tobacco Zone in Cordova.
If finalized, Perez said the new regulations could send most of his inventory up in smoke.
“At least about 40% of our inventory, because we usually rely on a lot of our inventory, which is mostly Delta-8 products,” he said. “Whether it's gummies, flower or disposable vapes.”
Current Tennessee law allows the sale of hemp products with less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC specifically.
State Senator Richard Briggs, who sponsored the original Delta-8 bill that gave the Department of Agriculture this authority, said this is about protecting people from the dangers of unregulated Delta-8 products.
“(Products) that were putting people in the hospital,” Sen. Briggs said. “And we wanted to protect children, so they inadvertently didn’t think it was candy or gummy bears.”
But Smoke Shop manager Muhaid Alhassen is concerned it could have the opposite effect.
“We already have crime in Memphis a lot,” he said. “That also is going to bring people to go to the street to buy products, and God knows what kind of stuff they're buying.”
Senators Briggs said that is the choice one will have to make if they choose to deal with illegal drugs.
The Department of Agriculture refused our request for comment.
These proposed rules won’t be finalized until July, and other members of the Tennessee State Legislature have already discussed proposing changes.