The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has acknowledged that cannabis seeds are considered hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill as long as they don’t exceed the 0.3% THC limit, Marijuana Moment reports. The DEA recently carried out a review of federal law and regulations in response to an inquiry from attorney Shane Pennington who shared the response on his “On Drugs” Substack newsletter.

“… Marihuana seed that has a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis meets the definition of ‘hemp,” Terrence L. Boos. Ph.D., chief drug & chemical section diversion control division, wrote to Pennington in his response, “and thus is not controlled under the CSA. Conversely, marihuana seed having a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentration more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis is controlled in schedule I under the CSA as marihuana.”

Pennington told Marijuana Moment that it is his view that “the letter is significant” because of confusion over the source rule – that is whether a cannabis product is a controlled substance based on the sample’s source or, as Pennington explains “the argument that the legal status of a cannabis product hinges on whether it is ‘sourced’ from marijuana or hemp.” Since both hemp and THC-rich cannabis seeds generally contain small amounts of THC, the letter effectively gives individuals the right to possess seeds that would produce THC-rich plants as long as the seeds contain less than 0.3% THC; however, it is still federally illegal to grow any cannabis plant that would exceed federal THC limits. Source: https://www.ganjapreneur.com