OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Johnson County retailers had until Sunday, March 20 to remove a specific item from their shelves.
“I will say that over the weekend, we had a large rush of people coming to stock up," American Shawman CEO Vince Sanders said.
As of March 20, all Delta-9 products containing more than 0.3 percent total THC were no longer allowed to be legally sold.
“D-8 isn't illegal, it’s just limited to .3 percent. It’s been lumped together with Delta-9 which is THC in marijuana," Sanders said.
In recent months, Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe joined others across the state in cracking down on the selling and possession of Delta-8 THC in Kansas.
In December, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt was asked for a legal opinion on the status of Delta-8 and decided it was a controlled substance that is unlawful to possess or sell.
“It’s a county by county basis and Johnson County is pretty much the only county doing this. You could go to Wyandotte County and no problem," Sanders said.
Sanders told KSHB 41 that one-third of his sales come from Delta-8 products. Sanders said he believes the law was written in a way that makes all products with .3 percent or more THC illegal.
“My guess is when they actually wrote it, they didn’t realize there were different ones and just thought there’s no sense in putting Delta-9, it's just .3 percent THC, so when you read it literally like that, that would include any THC product," Sanders said.
KSHB 41 reached out to several lawmakers in Topeka, Kansas, including the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House to see if there had been any discussion about the legality of Delta-9, but did not hear back.
Police departments in Johnson County told KSHB 41 they have only educated retailers about the law.
