Is THCO Illegal in North Carolina?

At Carolindica, we’ve been proud to offer THCO products to our customers, but we’ve decided to pull the product from our line-up due to recent legislative concerns. While the 2018 Farm Bill made hemp products containing less than 0.3% of Delta-9 on a dry-weight basis legal to sell, the answer to what qualifies as a hemp product wasn’t entirely clear. However, a recent Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) statement clarified that THCO isn’t hemp.

If you want to know more about why THCO’s legality is in question and how Carolindica is responding to the changes, review our guide to THCO’s legality.

Why Is THCO’s Legality in Question?

Before 2023, THCO, or THC acetate ester, was in a legal grey area, making it so companies could sell it legally in North Carolina. However, a North Carolina attorney wrote a letter to the DEA in 2022 and again in 2023, asking them whether THCO falls under the Controlled Substance Act (CSA). Since Delta-8 THCO and Delta-9 THCO are synthetically derived, the attorney wanted to know whether THCO products qualified as hemp and were protected under the 2018 Farm Bill.

Unfortunately, the DEA responded in February of 2023, stating that Delta-8 THCO and Delta-9 THCO don’t occur naturally in hemp and can only be synthetically derived. Based on their analysis, the DEA stated that THCO doesn’t “fall under the legal definition of hemp.” They also stated that Delta-8 THCO and Delta-9 THCO fall under the CSA and are Schedule I controlled substances. 

As of May 2023, the DEA hasn’t codified this clarification about THCO into law. However, it may be codified into law after their final ruling sometime this year. Based on the DEA’s statement, the safest option for many companies is to pull THCO from their shelves to avoid legal troubles.

Will Delta-8 THC and Delta-9 THC Be Affected?

Despite these potential changes to THCO’s legality, products that contain naturally derived Delta-8 THC and Delta-9 THC still meet the legal definition of hemp and should remain safe to buy and sell. Of course, products that contain naturally derived Delta-9 THC will still need to contain less than 0.3% of Delta-9 on a dry-weight basis.

Will Carolindica Continue to Offer THCO?

Due to the DEA’s classification of THCO as a controlled substance, we’re removing it from our products. While we’re planning on monitoring legislation and THCO’s legality, the new classification makes it legally murky to continue selling THCO. As a result, we’re pausing our THCO sales for now, but we’ve already begun updating many of our former THCO products to contain other cannabinoids.

What Former THCO Products Will Carolindica Continue to Offer?

As we remove THCO from our products, we’re updating some of our existing products by replacing THCO with a new cannabinoid. For example, our Supernova gummies used to contain a blend of Delta-8 and THCO. After the change, we’ve updated our Supernova Blend Gummies to contain Delta-8 and Delta-9. Since THCO tends to offer a more powerful high than other cannabinoids, we chose to replace it with Delta-9 to give our customers a similar level of strength.

All of our updated THCO products contain a “Remastered” label to make it clear we’ve removed THCO from them. You can also review all of the products we’ve updated below:

  • Hercules Blend
  • Eclipse Blend Gummies
  • Supernova Blend Gummies
  • Morpheus Blend Gummies
  • Nano THCO Hard Candy —> Nano Delta 9 Hard Candy
  • Nano THCO Shot—> Nano Delta 9 THC Shot
  • White Rhino PreRolls
  • Pink Panther Flower
  • THCO Gummies
  • THC Rosin

What THCO Products Is Carolindica Removing Entirely?

While we’re removing THCO from many of our products and updating them with other cannabinoids, we’re removing a few of our products from our store. These products simply wouldn’t deliver the high-quality results our customers have come to expect if we swapped them out for a different cannabinoid, so we’ve decided to discontinue them until THCO’s legality becomes clearer. You can review the products leaving our store below:

  • THCO Candy Mix
  • Supernova Capsules
  • THCO Tincture
  • THCO Watermelon Candy
  • THCO Sour Imps
  • THCO Rainbow Belts
  • THCO Capsules
  • THCO Bulk Distillate
  • THCO Distillate Syringe

Turn to Carolindica for Hand-Crafted Delta-8, Delta-9, and CBD Products 

As the cannabis and hemp industry evolves, you can trust Carolindica to stay up to date on all the latest developments and adjust accordingly. No matter the changes, our team will always remain committed to producing legal, hand-crafted cannabis products that give our customers an exceptional experience. As a result, you can still find all your favorite Delta-8, Delta-9, HHC, CBN, CBD, and CBG products at Carolindica.

Review our full selection of available products today. If you have any questions or need help choosing the right cannabis product for you, please feel free to contact us.