Alan Welsh wasn't just a cop. He was a Very Important Cop. The kind of cop who gets a legislative commemoration for an outstanding career upon retirement. Now he grows marijuana for a living. The shock of seeing Welsh in a room full of pot without a badge on his chest or a story to tell about a massive bust can hardly be overstated. Now he's a partner in a Dakota Herb, a company with grow operations that produce that much pot on a regular basis.
By law, Dakota Herb's products are tracked from seed to shelf and tested for quality and potency all along the way. There are cameras all over the Dakota Herb facility, even one aimed at the room where a machine extracts THC oil for use in vape pens and concentrated "dabs."
But Welsh isn't doing cartwheels over the new state law. It's unclear how the state will approach enforcement, with officials citing the expense and difficulty of testing products for violations. That's not even Welsh's issue. He points out that the new law doesn't touch smokable hemp tagged with the term "THC-A." THC-A becomes delta-9 THC when burned.
That means a smokable "hemp" flower can have a bunch of THC-A and remain legal, as long as the delta-9 THC level stays below the 0.3% federal threshold that distinguishes hemp from marijuana. "It's like me saying, 'Here's a bottle of vodka, but it's not really vodka until you take the cap off and take a drink," Welsh said.
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