The Latest Threat: Delta 10 - Drug emerges as Wyoming fights to curb illegal marijuana market

by Wyoming Liberty Group

Just when Wyoming lawmakers addressed the latest threat from marijuana, a new version of the mind-altering drug has found its way back into our state, creating yet another hazard.

Little is known about the emerging drug, even as it quickly spreads throughout Wyoming. It's called Delta 10. It also could be called the latest variation of Whack-a-Mole. Remember that arcade game? A mole pops up, and you whack it with a mallet. But just as quickly, another mole pops up.

At the just-concluded legislative session in Cheyenne, the state Senate whacked the latest marijuana mole—shrewdly rejecting a flawed bill that would have complicated the problem of marijuana possession. The bill, HB 30, sought to classify as a misdemeanor if a person was caught with three ounces or less of marijuana, but the proposed law didn't account for the form of the illegal drug, or the key psychoactive ingredient in it—tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The ill-conceived bill failed. Crisis averted.

Meanwhile, our governor, Mark Gordon, did the right thing by recently signing other legislation aimed at curbing the production of hemp products that are used to create new forms of the mind-altering drug. That legislation, known in bill form as SF 32, also seeks to stop the retail sales of such products as Delta 8, which comes from the same cannabis plant as marijuana. Delta 8 is being marketed and sold all over the Cowboy State, but it's still unclear precisely how the new legislation will fully impact the availability of such mind-altering products, which can be sold and distributed online and through the mail.

Bottom line: The marijuana problem isn't solved. Far from it.

Pro-pot forces have spent years trying to crack into the lucrative market of Wyoming, where marijuana remains illegal. In 2018, the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C., apparently accidentally gave the marijuana industry a new opportunity with what was known as the Farm Bill. It's also called a loophole. When Congress passed that federal law, it allowed the growth and sale of hemp, a class of the cannabis plant with low levels of THC.

Ever since, the marijuana industry has activated its chemists and marketers to find a way around the federal law. Hence, the emergence of Delta 8. Concentrated amounts of Delta 8 can be made by extracting a compound called cannabidiol—or CBD—from hemp before converting it in a chemical process into Delta 8.

The dangers of Delta 8 have become increasingly clear in Wyoming, where several teenagers have been rushed to the emergency room with various alarming ailments, including some who had trouble breathing.

Now, though, the latest mind-altering substance is rearing its ugly head in our state: Delta 10.

It's already being marketed vigorously throughout Wyoming as a so-called mellow mind-altering alternative to Delta 8, or Delta 9, the main psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana.

"Delta 10-THC is a newer, cutting edge cannabinoid (derived from Hemp), which carries similar psychoactive effects and euphoric feelings associated with the traditional cannabis use," touts one local Wyoming dealer online.

That seller admits, however, "Delta 10-THC, like Delta 8-THC is a young cannabinoid, as a result there are no definite studies of the long-term effects of Delta 10-THC."

One way to translate that: Who knows what you're about to put into your body?

Understanding Delta 10 is like a lesson in chemistry. It was apparently discovered by accident in a marijuana lab. The simple version is that Delta 10 is extracted from Delta 9 THC, the psychoactive ingredient that makes a person high, through a chemical reaction. Delta 10 apparently has the same atoms as Delta 9 but just arranged differently.

Regardless of the chemistry, this much is clear about Delta 10: Its products are already multiplying in various forms—in vape cartridges, tinctures and gummies—and merchants are already shipping them to such cities as Casper, Cheyenne, Cody, Evanston, Gillette, Green River, Jackson, Lander, Laramie, Rawlins, Riverton, Rock Springs and Sheridan.

Another local merchant brags, "Getting your hands on high-quality, legal Delta-10 products is easier than you might think … In the beautiful state of Wyoming, a wide range of legal Delta-10 THC products await."

This is how it markets the newly emerging substance: "A new player has joined the cannabinoid scene: Delta-10 THC. Although less potent than its cousin, Delta-9, this compound provides an energetic high that fans of cannabis Sativa strains will appreciate."

Such claims are increasingly making the rounds. These strains of the mind-altering substance are somehow being likened to the varieties of wine, with nuances of flavor and effect.

But, to put it mildly, such claims are nonsense. The fact is, Delta 10 is so new, there is little research on it. All that we really know is that pro-pot forces are trying to take advantage of a loophole and foisting on Wyoming a new form of the mind-altering drug.