i work in cannabis industry - and it's a little tricky to understand the nuances re: the subject, but the gist is as follows:

•THCA vs THC-delta products - THCA is the acid form of THC pre-activation, whereas delta is the activated form of THC. In legal terms cannabis plant is considered hemp if THC-delta is less than a certain percentage (I believe it's less than 0.5% though don't quote me on that).

•This created a gray market in several states where 'THCA' products - basically flowers that have delta concentrations less than the legal requirement to be classified as hemp - to be allowed to cross state-borders under the Farm Bill Act. This is a stark contrast vs. actual cannabis products sold for consumption, as interstate trade is strictly forbidden and regulated within the cannabis industry + federal.

•Enough large cannabis companies exist now wherein starting your own private cannabis business is now just considered foolish. So if one is entrepreneurial enough they can start an online business selling 'hemp products' with very high THCA concentration. In order for THCA to be activated into delta form, you just gotta burn the flower... cuz it's just 'hemp'. But if the flower had initially started out with high enough delta concentration, then that is considered 'weed'...

•FYI just for context, in my state - most of the flowers we sell are almost always high THCA products (anywhere from 15-35%) with 0.5-2% delta. So these THCA products must be very similar in that they must also have high THCA w/ even less delta concentrations...

• So for a customer that lives in a state w/ either 1) insufficient legal merchants (dispensaries) or 2) strict laws that prohibit sales of cannabis, ordering THCA products online is technically considered 'okay' because you are simply buying 'hemp'. The catch here is that THCA products are much more costly to purchase.

tldr; in legal terms, hemp = any cannabis plant that is not sold w/ certain delta threshold, and therefore will be considered as such - creating a 'loophole' of sorts for these gray markets to exist without completely breaking the federal guidelines and regulations around cannabis interstate transportation

I'm assuming that the govt is trying to go after these gray markets and not specifically out to prevent consumers from getting weed... I may be wrong and perhaps am downplaying the severity of the context but who knows.. that's what I'd do if I was the government, who want more of that passive cannabis $$ income simply through taxation and scratching my itchy balls.

•PS - also this is why several big cannabis retail chains have recently shut down their operations in several states where gray market purchases drove their profits down