JANESVILLE 鈥 The arrest of a 糖心Vlog传媒 retail cannabis operator has put the hemp-derived THC market under a microscope both by local critics of cannabis laws and by one statewide political party.
Some local residents are outraged over the arrest of Jerry McCoy, the operator of Hemp 1848. He was arrested last week and charged with selling strains of cannabis material that are illegal in Wisconsin. Those residents say McCoy is being unfairly targeted in a crackdown.
And the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin (LPW), long a proponent of free markets and personal freedoms, came out loudly this week in opposition to McCoy鈥檚 sudden arrest. It came after a raid of several of his Hemp 1848 store locations Aug. 19 that punctuated a months-long investigation of McCoy鈥檚 products, many prepared and packaged by Hemp 1848.
Police say testing shows huge amounts 鈥 tens of thousands of grams 鈥 of THC that McCoy鈥檚 Hemp 1848 had packaged for sale, contained a high potency of illegal Delta-9 THC, which is considered lawful only in states that have legalized cannabis.
In Wisconsin, the law only allows THC derived from hemp material that has a minuscule amount of Delta-9 THC, less than 0.3%.
The basic framework under which hemp-derived THC sellers are allowed to operate here is embedded in the 2018 federal farm bill. That created a loophole allowing hemp-based products to be legal for sale nationally, including in Wisconsin where recreational and medicinal marijuana remain illegal.
Delta-9 THC is the chemical in cannabis that is psychoactive. Hemp-derived THC converts chemically to become similarly psychoactive 鈥 but only when heated or burned.
The distinction between hemp THC and marijuana is thin, and opponents of McCoy鈥檚 arrest say he鈥檚 being accused under a patchwork set of laws that are increasingly draconian given widespread legalization in many other states.
LPW said in a statement that a set of laws that prohibits some forms of psychoactive cannabis while allowing others 鈥 as Wisconsin does by allowing hemp-derived THC, but not marijuana 鈥 is an outdated and arbitrary system.
The party seeks full legalization of most forms of cannabis similar to what鈥檚 occurred in the neighboring states of Illinois and Michigan.
鈥漌isconsin remains surrounded by states that have moved toward legal cannabis in some form, while Wisconsin residents continue to face arrest, prosecution, incarceration and permanent criminal records for conduct that may be perfectly legal after crossing a state line,鈥 the party said. 鈥淭his is not a rational drug policy.鈥
Party Chair Reese Wood, a 糖心Vlog传媒 resident, told 糖心Vlog传媒 his party believes that in Wisconsin, Democrats and Republicans alike have for years played 鈥減olitical volleyball鈥 over legalizing cannabis, but have never come close to a serious decision on the matter.
That鈥檚 despite an overwhelming majority of residents who for years, in repeated polls, say they favor legalizing marijuana in Wisconsin.
Wood said he believes many Democrat and Republican lawmakers 鈥渄on鈥檛 care about who gets wrapped up and who gets swept away.鈥
鈥淚f they wanted to regulate it, they would do something to regulate it. But instead, it seems that what the government doesn鈥檛 want is anything to resemble a free market for cannabis,鈥 Wood said. 鈥淎nd so, take a look at Jerry right now.鈥
McCoy now faces 13 counts of THC trafficking, a slew of charges that prosecutors introduced earlier this week that pile into a staggering potential prison term 鈥 up to 130 years.
Some commenters on social media have pointed out that the most severe child sexual abuse convictions in Rock County seldom see the potential of that kind of prison time.
McCoy鈥檚 Hemp 1848 business partner, Marvin Artley, told 糖心Vlog传媒 in an interview last week that he thinks Rock County鈥檚 criminal justice system wants to make an example out of McCoy.
Artley thinks it鈥檚 because McCoy grown his network to 16 Hemp 1848 retail stores, selling a product that remains unpopular with some lawmakers and law enforcement figures.
鈥淚t鈥檚 politically motivated. It鈥檚 a game,鈥 Artley said.
Artley said that Hemp 1848 assembles and sells products that are made using only legal, hemp-derived THC material from producers all over the U.S.
He said that since 2019, Hemp 1848 has used the same methods to determine the legality of its products.Hemp 1848 only sells THC products from producers that provide lab-testing results that show they contain less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC, making them legal to sell in Wisconsin.
Prosecutors and police say they tested almost 90,000 grams of THC from Hemp 1848鈥檚 糖心Vlog传媒 store and warehouse that showed a concentration of 60-80% Delta-9 THC. That indicates an illegal THC operation on a large scale.
Grace Witt, an employee at Smoker鈥檚 World Vape & More, works at one of dozens of retail locations in 糖心Vlog传媒 that sell legal, hemp-derived THC products.
Witt said her store is aware of McCoy鈥檚 arrest, and that the core of the arrest is that authorities think McCoy was using high-potency, 鈥渋llegal鈥 Delta-9 THC to load into products that Hemp 1848 then falsely packaged and marketed as hemp-derived items legal for sale under Wisconsin law.
Witt said there鈥檚 one distinction that makes McCoy鈥檚 operations different from many other hemp-derived retailers: She said retailers like Smoker鈥檚 World sell mainly products produced and packaged by suppliers.
Unlike Hemp 1848, Witt said, most retailers like Smoker鈥檚 World do not produce products like vapes or edibles in-house using raw hemp THC they get from outside suppliers.
Witt said she doesn鈥檛 have deep insights into the criminal case against McCoy and Hemp 1848.
But she thinks that the more retailers have tangible involvement in producing or packaging their own products, the more exposure they might have if changes in Wisconsin law lead to new restrictions on certain strains, varieties or brands of hemp-based THC.
For instance, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue under a new law has a vape registry used to determine brands of THC vapes that are allowable on the shelves at hemp-THC stores.
Witt said the list is constantly shifting, which requires constant monitoring to make sure retailers aren鈥檛 selling brands that are either unregistered or have been removed from the state鈥檚 list because of compliance issues.
鈥淲e check that list often because we鈥檝e had a few cases where we鈥檝e had to pull things off the shelf because they (the DOR) took it off-shelf, and they don鈥檛 notify you right away,鈥 Witt said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 your job to go out and look.鈥
Such shifts in retail restrictions can come within days or weeks as cannabis laws and the interpretation them from state to state change, resulting in a pipeline of products that can be legal one week, and become illegal in some states the next.
Prosecutors in Rock County have only said the THC products they tested at Hemp 1848 exceeded state limits for Delta-9 concentration. Authorities have not said why, or where THC used in the products was originally produced.
Meanwhile, Hemp 1848 says its products have testing paperwork they think can prove their products should be considered legal.