Just one block away from campus, Mindleaf CBD legally sells products containing CBD and psychoactive THC variants, such as delta-8 THC and THCa. It is one of many Lehigh Valley businesses that are navigating the complicated legality of selling hemp-derived THC alternatives.
As recreational cannabis is illegal in Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Walter, the owner of Mindleaf CBD, wrote in an email that the legal sale comes down to a distinction between hemp and marijuana.
“We only sell hemp-based products at Mindleaf,” Walter wrote. “Marijuana and hemp are both classified as ‘cannabis’ which is where I think some of the confusion comes in.”
Walter said that the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp and its derivatives, allows Mindleaf to operate.
This bill also allows other shops such as Utopia and Your CBD Store in Downtown Easton to sell psychoactive hemp products. Utopia is a tobacco shop that also sells products containing delta-8 THC, while Your CBD Store sells a wide variety of hemp products targeted for medicinal use.
The legal limit for hemp in any product is 0.3 percent THC. However, this limit only applies to delta-9 THC, which is the only version of THC that is regulated by the federal government.
Juan Rojo, the owner of the Easton branch of Your CBD Store, sells products containing delta-8 THC. He said that they provide similar physiological effects to “any products made from marijuana with a higher THC content.”
Mindleaf also sells products with a variant called THCa, which is “where things get really interesting,” according to Walter. She explained that THCa is unregulated and a “precursor to Delta-9 THC.”
“THCa converts directly into Delta-9 THC through heat, and is legal both federally and in Pennsylvania,” Walter continued. “So users are buying a fully legal flower because it doesn’t have any Delta-9 THC in it until you hit it with your lighter.”
Dawn Williams, the store manager at Mindleaf CBD, explained that the store sources its hemp from Amish growers. Williams described the hemp as “very organic,” saying “they do not use pesticides, they don’t use chemicals.”
Mindleaf CBD also has lab reports available for all of its flowers, according to Williams.
Both Mindleaf CBD and Your CBD Store center their missions around cannabis education and safety.
“You don’t want people going to the corner lot buying something that is bad for them,” Rojo said. “That’s why we’re educators here. I’m in the business of helping people here.”
“What we do as a company is education,” he continued. “We give a lot of reading material and do a lot of sampling so people can make a correct, educated decision about how to use our products.”
Regarding campus policies on marijuana, Director of Public Safety Jeff Troxell wrote in an email that “with any cases involving CBD Hemp Deprived <0.3% THC products we would ask for proof or evidence in the form of a receipt. If no receipt is provided, we would test the item in question. If positive for THC we would confiscate the item.”
The college’s Student Code of Conduct prohibits drug possession and use based on federal, state and local laws.
“The College’s Faculty Committee on Student Life will review at the conclusion of each academic year the policies and practices regarding alcohol and other drugs, for the purpose of increasing their effectiveness and maintaining a healthy and safe campus environment,” the code reads. The Division of Student Life was not contacted for comment.
