New, technically legal THC strains are sold across NC. Have police policies caught up?

It smells like weed, it tastes like weed and it smokes like weed. But it’s not technically weed, nor is it technically illegal.

A couple who said they were smoking a THCA joint on a Charlotte bus stop bench tried to tell officers with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department that. They bought the joint from a smoke shop, they told officers, pointing across the street.

The viral, forceful arrest that followed spurred questions about what smoke shops can sell and what policies guide officers who are investigating suspected marijuana. While Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather hasn’t prosecuted low-level possession charges since 2020, marijuana remains illegal in most of North Carolina.

During a news conference on the arrest and recently released police body camera footage, CMPD Police Chief Johnny Jennings said his officers will continue to investigate suspected marijuana until it’s legalized.

Until then, weed-like products that harness different cannabinoids — or compounds found in cannabis plants, like THCA — will continue to exist in a gray area. That’s because of the 2018 federal Farm Bill, which legalized the production of hemp and regulated it by capping only one cannabinoid: Delta 9 THC — the intoxicating component in weed.

For a substance to be considered legal hemp, it can’t contain more than 0.3% of Delta 9 THC by dry weight.

That limit, said Phil Dixon, Jr., a cannabis-focused lawyer and the director of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Public Defense Education Group, created a loophole for the jumble of intoxicating treats, joints and vapes now available in Charlotte and most of the country.

CMPD suspends officer for striking woman 17 times during Steele Creek bus stop arrest

Is smoke-shop weed legal?

It is currently illegal to grow, sell or use marijuana in most of North Carolina, except on Cherokee land in the western part of the state — where medical marijuana will soon be available for legal purchase.

But smoke shops, gas stations and even dispensaries carrying only CBD and hemp skirt around the bill’s cap by selling products that promise a high similar to the one marijuana under a slew of new labels. There’s Delta 8, 9 or 10. There’s also THCA, THCP, THCJD and HHC.

The list goes on.

Each new letter signals a new strain — typically derived from legal hemp, but sometimes synthetically produced — that is high in cannabinoids other than Delta 9 THC. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says Delta-8 THC and similar compounds present serious health risks because they are not regulated.

Delta 8 and Delta 10 are known as “weed lite” because of their less intense high, while Delta 9 is one of the closest replications for those looking for the traditional effects of Delta 9 THC. THCA, on the other hand, does not hold the same effects — unless lit.

When burned, THCA turns into Delta 9 THC and likely exceeds the legal limits, Dixon said. But before it’s lit, its Delta 9 THC levels remain below the mandated 0.3%.

Then there’s THCP, which is described as the “most potent psychoactive cannabinoid yet,” according to several blog sites. A new strain is sure to surface soon.

Every couple of months, a new alphanumeric combination pops up, said Laura Watkins, a 21-year-old employee at Infinity’s End, a smoke shop in Charlotte’s Wesley Heights neighborhood.

The shop’s vendors routinely send new products, she said, sometimes with new letters.

While consumers aren’t typically reprimanded for solely purchasing these products, Dixon said, people should do their own research before buying. Because the industry is unregulated, some products may be mislabeled, and some — like THCA — may morph and exceed legal limitations when consumed or heated.

“You’re inviting a police encounter by using this stuff in public,” Dixon said. “But, also, I would have never known that police were still enforcing marijuana laws based on my last visit to NoDa.”

CMPD chief: ‘Context is crucial’ before you judge Steele Creek incident | Opinion

Forceful arrest at Charlotte bus stop

When police smelled marijuana as they passed a bus stop in southwest Charlotte, they pulled over and approached a couple smoking what looked to be a joint. But the pair — Christina Pierre and Anthony Lee — told police they bought the joint at a smoke shop across the street. Their lawyer, Lauren Newton, said it was legally bought THCA.

The arrest that followed went viral when a bystander posted a video of CMPD officers arresting a woman with force. Body camera footage released soon after the Nov. 13 arrest completed the picture.

One officer moved to detain Lee, and Pierre began to interfere with the arrest, police say. Back-up officers flocked to arrest the two, and Pierre resisted arrest and punched an officer, video shows. The officer returned a punch to her face, and another officer later struck her 17 times — which was 14 times too many, police later said.

The two were arrested and charged with assault and marijuana possession. Lee also had a loaded firearm in his bag.

Merriweather dismissed all charges, and CMPD suspended the officer who excessively struck Pierre.

Marijuana arrests in Charlotte

Most interactions involving marijuana do not result in an arrest, Jennings wrote in an op-ed published in The Charlotte Observer, but “an individual’s actions can ultimately determine the outcome.”

Six years ago, CMPD made over 100 arrests with the only charge being possession of marijuana, Jennings said. In 2022, there were 10 arrests for the same singular charge, and in 2023 through November, there were 13.

Jennings maintains his officers were well within their duties to investigate the couple at the bus stop, and he says CMPD’s Crime Lab identified the substance as marijuana.

Dixon said the police analysis isn’t thorough enough, though. It identifies the substance in the joint as “marijuana containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC),” not Delta 9 THC, specifically. There are only a few North Carolina labs that can detect finite levels, he said, and CMPD’s is not one of them.

North Carolina House Bill 563 would have lifted the smoke surrounding some hemp products by creating new regulations, including restricting selling hemp-derived, consumable products to anyone under 18 and requiring more stringent testing. The bill died after being passed to the Senate in September.

Because Merriweather dropped all charges against the couple, their case won’t continue in court. Their lawyer indicated they plan on suing the city.

If it had continued, Dixon said, it could have been a canon study on how courts consider the legality of hemp-derived products.