Tetrahydrocannabinolic Acid. Or Delta-9 THCA
If you’ve been paying attention to the hemp industry, you’ve probably noticed this is the hottest ‘new’ molecule. I put new in quotes because THCA is not new at all. It’s as old as cannabis is. However, its proliferation in the hemp industry is new.
How do we make THCA?
We don’t. The hemp plant makes it. Let’s have a quick refresher on the definition of hemp.
The U.S. Farm Bill defines hemp as cannabis sativa that is grown under a hemp license and has less than .3% D9-THC by weight (The actual definition is wordier than that, but this is the important part).
Hemp, Cannabis, Marijuana, etc. are all the same plant. The differences are arbitrary nuances defined by politicians, not biology. I’m going to use ‘cannabis’ since it is the scientific name for hemp. Note – Everything that Better Than Nine sells is federally legal hemp with less than .3% D9-THC.
Back to THCA basics…
The cannabis plant doesn’t produce D9-THC. It produces D9-THCA.
D9-THCA converts into D9-THC via a process called decarboxylation – the removal of carboxylic acid. This process is achieved with heat and oxidation.
D9-THCA is not psychoactive because the ‘A’ prevents it from passing through the blood-brain barrier. This means that if you ate a handful of fresh, raw cannabis, you will not get high (you may feel a little something because THCA starts to slowly convert to THC with time, sunlight, ambient heat, and other external factors). However, if you heat the cannabis to remove the ‘A’ and then eat it, you will get high.
How are THCA Flowers Different from Flowers You Buy in a Dispensary in CA, CO, WA or other legal states?
The short answer is they aren’t.
The more detailed and accurate answer is that the cultivators grow, harvest, and dry the plants in conditions that keep the THCA converting to THC. The biggest thing they don’t is control heat. There are other things, but heat is the enemy of THCA and preserving federal legality.
What’s the message to take away?
The THCA Hemp Flowers we legally sell are the same plant and quality of what you buy when you go to a cannabis dispensary. They are not sprayed with chemicals. They are not GMO. There are no tricks or synthetic stuff done to manipulate them.
This is one of the few examples of something that seems to good to be true is actually true!
Check out our THCA flowers and you will see that they are legit!
