Over the past few years, Jonny Griffis has invested millions of dollars in his legal marijuana farm in northern Michigan, which produces extracts to be used in things like gummy bears and vape oils.

But now that farm — like many other licensed grows in states that have legalized marijuana — faces an existential threat: high-inducing cannabis compounds derived not from the heavily regulated and taxed legal marijuana industry, but from a chemical process involving little-regulated, cheaply grown hemp.

"It's going to make our farm obsolete," Griffis, the chief operating officer of True North Collective, testified before Michigan's Marijuana Regulatory Agency recently. "The $3 million or so that I've invested ... is going to be wiped out."

Jonny Griffis, chief operating officer of True North Collective, poses in Jackson, Mich., Wednesday, March 2, 2022. 

At the center of the issue is THC, marijuana's main intoxicating component. While marijuana and hemp are the same plant — cannabis — the distinction between the two is a legal one, and comes down to the amount of THC in the plant, specifically the amount of a type of THC called delta-9.

Hemp is defined in federal law by its low delta-9 THC content and is traditionally used for food, clothing and industrial applications. "Rope not dope" was long a motto for those who advocated the legalization of hemp.

But since Congress passed the 2018 Farm Bill, authorizing the growing of hemp nationwide, there's been an unforeseen consequence: People exploiting what they see as a loophole in the law have taken that hemp, extracted a non-intoxicating compound called CBD, and chemically changed it — generally by the addition of solvents and heat — into various types of impairing THC.

Cannabis plants growing at an indoor True North Collective facility are shown in Jackson, Mich., Wednesday, March 2, 2022. 

Unlike the completely artificial, often dangerous drugs known as K2 or Spice and called "synthetic marijuana," the chemically created THC at issue here consists of molecules found naturally in cannabis, though sometimes in vanishingly small amounts. It's far cheaper to produce THC chemically from hemp than to extract it from marijuana.

Because it is derived from hemp, that THC — often in a form called delta-8 — can wind up in candies, vape oils and other products sold in gas stations, convenience stores and online, even in states where marijuana is illegal. The Food and Drug Administration warned last year that the substances pose a public health risk due to multiple factors, including the way they are marketed and because of potential contamination when manufactured.

At least 17 states have banned such products, but they remain available in many, including the pioneering legal marijuana state of Washington, where gas station and vape-shop sales of THC created from hemp offer competition to the heavily taxed, regulated and tested marijuana market.

Virginia lawmakers this month approved a bill to strictly limit the amount of THC allowed in hemp-derived products; Gov. Glenn Youngkin has not yet signed it. In Kentucky and Georgia, recent lawsuits have sought to establish that delta-8 products are legal; a Kentucky judge sided with hemp advocates there on Feb. 28, allowing the products to continue to be sold as lawmakers consider a ban.

The U.S. Hemp Roundtable, a hemp industry association, has decried the use of hemp-extracted CBD to create intoxicating products, saying it "undermines the integrity of the hemp industry and intent of the 2018 Farm Bill."

Justin Waid, True North Collective hydrocarbon extraction director, prepares cannabis for extract in Jackson, Mich., Wednesday, March 2, 2022. 

Supporters call chemically derived THC economical and environmentally friendly. Hemp can be grown in vast fields outdoors, without expensive lighting systems, and can have a lower carbon footprint than marijuana.

Further, processors can make a more consistent product using chemistry to make THC from CBD, they say, and regulators shouldn't stand in the way of market innovations or pick winners and losers in the industry. They liken it to the synthetically created vanilla or caffeine added to food and drinks.

Greg Brewer prepares True North Collective gummies with sugar in Jackson, Mich., Wednesday, March 2, 2022. 

"Most growers don't like to hear this, because they feel like it's taking away from their market, but it's a great product," said Abe Fleishman, of Northstar Hemp in Oregon. "It provides an opportunity for companies to scale production, for one, and to make a new product that is, in my opinion, cleaner than your regular THC products."

For critics, the safety isn't proven; the process of making it can leave behind trace amounts of unidentifiable compounds. The method also allows for the manufacture of lesser-known cannabis compounds whose health effects aren't well understood.

Chemically produced THC is unlikely to displace the top-shelf dried cannabis flower preferred by many connoisseurs, but it is so cheap to make that it drastically undercuts marijuana growers who focus on the extract market, and who have spent a lot of time and money adapting to stringent rules for their industry.

Griffis said he's seen the price of delta-9 distillate drop from $50,000 a liter to $6,000 — and falling — as THC made from hemp floods the market.

Justin Herman prepares True North Collective vape cartridges in Jackson, Mich., Wednesday, March 2, 2022. 

"It's an issue that almost every state cannabis regulator is thinking about," said Gillian Schauer, executive director of the Cannabis Regulators Association. "It's presenting a lot of challenges to protecting public health and consumer safety, and also to protecting existing state cannabis markets."

And, Schauer said, THC chemically made from hemp is only the tip of the iceberg: It can also be made from bioengineered yeast, so regulators will soon find themselves wrestling with that as well.

In Michigan, the Marijuana Regulatory Agency is considering rules that would allow processors to convert CBD into THC with written prior approval from the agency, which would require demonstrations of the conversion method and product testing. They would also have to label their product as synthetic — a suggestion that has angered processors who note that the molecules are found in nature.

True North Collective vape cartridges are shown in Jackson, Mich., Wednesday, March 2, 2022. 

Oregon's Liquor and Cannabis Commission gave marijuana licensees a six-month grace period to sell off intoxicating THC-from-hemp products they had already acquired before a ban takes effect in July.

In California, hemp-derived THC products are not allowed in legal marijuana shops, but regulators are examining the steps necessary to allow them.

Colorado and Washington, which in 2012 became the first states to legalize recreational marijuana, last year made clear that synthetically derived cannabinoids, including THC, are not allowed in their legal industries.

After an uproar from licensed growers who said they were being undercut, Washington's Liquor and Cannabis board seized more than 1,600 pounds (726 kilograms) of chemically created THC products made by a single licensed marijuana company, Unicorn Brands. The board went on to ban them from the regulated market.

For David Postman, the board's chairman, THC made from hemp represents an industrialization of the cannabis industry that he isn't sure voters wanted when they passed Washington's legal marijuana law, which was billed as a harm-reduction measure.

"The LCB and the majority of the cannabis industry do not think the legal market should include mind-impairing, lab-created THC," Postman said. "Allowing synthetically derived THC in the state's legal cannabis market could devastate the industry."

Vicki Christophersen, a lobbyist for the industry group Washington CannaBusiness Association, argues that the board's approach is stifling innovation in ways that will make it tough for Washington to compete nationally, should the federal ban on marijuana ever be lifted.

"The collaborations that occur between the hemp industry and the adult-use cannabis industry are not only inevitable, but they're important," she said. "We need to look at what is going to advance Washington's industry alongside all the other competitor states that are advancing at a much higher speed than we are."

From alcohol to cigarettes, most adults have tried some form of recreational drug. Fewer people have experimented with prescription medication for recreational reasons, but certain areas of the country are experiencing a serious problem with opoid addiction. Other drugs like cocaine and LSD, are used sporadically among adults in the U.S.

Using data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive, the experts at HealthGrove, a health data site, ranked the 25 most commonly used recreational drugs. The substances are ordered by the increasing percentage of people age 12 and over who used the drug recreationally in 2015. In the case of a tie, the drug with a higher classification by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is ranked higher.

To collect this data, SAMHDA conducts the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in which they record use of illicit drugs, alcohol and tobacco in the U.S. population aged 12 or older. It is important to note that this data only includes recreational use of drugs, not proper medical use.

Drugs that are legal, alcohol and tobacco, have the highest recreational use. According to the survey, nearly one in five people over the age of 12 also used marijuana in 2015. As the drug becomes legal in more states, recreational use is likely to increase. Other Schedule I drugs (drugs determined to have no medical benefit by the DEA) including heroin and DMT had a recreational prevalence rate of less than 1 percent in 2015.

Note: Not all images in slideshow depict the exact drugs.

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 0.17 percent Drug category: Hallucinogen DEA Schedule: III Common forms: Liquid, powder

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 0.18 percent Drug category: Opioid DEA Schedule: II Common forms: Tablet

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 0.2 percent Drug category: Hallucinogen DEA Schedule: I Common forms: Powder, crystal

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 0.21 percent Drug category: Tranquilzer DEA Schedule: IV Common forms: Pill

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 0.23 percent Drug category: Opioid DEA Schedule: II Common forms: Tablet, dispersible tablet, liquid

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 0.33 percent Drug category: Sedative DEA Schedule: IV Common forms: Pill, capsule, liquid

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 0.37 percent Drug category: Opioid DEA Schedule: II Common forms: Tablet, liquid, capsule, suppository

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 0.38 percent Drug category: Opioid DEA Schedule: III Common forms: Pill

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 0.39 percent Drug category: Opioid DEA Schedule: I Common forms: Powder, tar

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 0.45 percent Drug category: Sedative DEA Schedule: IV Common forms: Pill, capsule, liquid

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 0.54 percent Drug category: Tranquilzer DEA Schedule: IV Common forms: Pill, capsule, liquid

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 0.6 percent Drug category: Tranquilzer DEA Schedule: IV Common forms: Pill

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 0.61 percent Drug category: Stimulant DEA Schedule: II Common forms: Liquid, tablet, capsule

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 0.68 percent Drug category: Stimulant DEA Schedule: II Common forms: Powder, pill, crystal

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 0.77 percent Drug category: Opioid DEA Schedule: IV Common forms: Pill

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 1.07 percent Drug category: Hallucinogen DEA Schedule: I Common forms: Tablet, capsule, liquid, paper

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 1.5 percent Drug category: Hallucinogen DEA Schedule: I Common forms: Tablet, capsule, liquid

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 2.05 percent Drug category: Tranquilzer DEA Schedule: IV Common forms: Pill, capsule, liquid

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 2.05 percent Drug category: Opioid DEA Schedule: II Common forms: Capsule, liquid, tablet

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 2.19 percent Drug category: Stimulant DEA Schedule: II Common forms: Powder, crystal

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 2.8 percent Drug category: Stimulant DEA Schedule: II Common forms: Tablet, capsule

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 3.17 percent Drug category: Opioid DEA Schedule: II Common forms: Pill

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 17.68 percent Drug category: Depressant DEA Schedule: I Common forms: Plant, resin, oil

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 31.1 percent Drug category: Stimulant DEA Schedule: N/A Common forms: Cigarette, cigar, bidi, hookah, snuff, chew

Recreational use prevalence (2015): 61.42 percent Drug category: Depressant DEA Schedule: N/A Common forms: Liquid

Get local news delivered to your inbox!

A Walmart employee shared this video of people screaming for shoppers in the parking lot to run to the shelter of the store as debris flew through the air.

Hawley’s attorneys, responding to the complaint from Politico, said their use of the image fell under “fair use” laws.

The highway patrol says those killed include the 16-year-old driver, three 15-year-olds, and two 17-year-old passengers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Clarence Thomas has been hospitalized because of an infection, the Supreme Court said Sunday.

Over the first two days of hearings, Republican senators characterized Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson's judicial views as extremist and soft on crime. Here's a look at the claims and facts.

Madeleine Albright, the first female U.S. secretary of state, has died of cancer, her family said Wednesday. She was 84.

Justice Clarence Thomas was discharged from the hospital Friday after a stay of nearly a week, the Supreme Court said.

Things to know today: Ex-prosecutor who led Trump probe says former president guilty of felonies; Biden, allies open Russia talks; plus, we talk Oscars.

Experts watching for a potential new COVID-19 surge in the U.S. are concerned about how long it will take to detect. Here's why they're worried.

The speed limit at the crash site was 70 mph. Although it was unclear how fast the two vehicles were traveling, the NTSB vice chairman says “this was clearly a high-speed collision.”

Jonny Griffis, chief operating officer of True North Collective, poses in Jackson, Mich., Wednesday, March 2, 2022. 

Cannabis plants growing at an indoor True North Collective facility are shown in Jackson, Mich., Wednesday, March 2, 2022. 

Justin Waid, True North Collective hydrocarbon extraction director, prepares cannabis for extract in Jackson, Mich., Wednesday, March 2, 2022. 

Greg Brewer prepares True North Collective gummies with sugar in Jackson, Mich., Wednesday, March 2, 2022. 

Justin Herman prepares True North Collective vape cartridges in Jackson, Mich., Wednesday, March 2, 2022. 

True North Collective vape cartridges are shown in Jackson, Mich., Wednesday, March 2, 2022. 

Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.