In London, Kentucky, Jessica Harris' 15-year-old daughter was walking to her school bus when a classmate gave her a red candy bar. The square candy seemed harmless to Harris' daughter at the time. But it turned out to contain THC, the exciting ingredient in cannabis plants. His family rushed him to the hospital.
Federal and state regulators are grappling with a surge in products containing THC and similar chemicals, some in kid-friendly forms like candy or gummy bears, that has sent many children to emergency rooms across the country. Many of these products can be sold with virtually no restrictions because their makers get their exciting compounds not from medicinal cannabis but from industrial hemp. Congress legalized industrial hemp in 2018.
According to the U.S. Poison Control Center, calls to poison control centers for these newly popular cannabinoids derived from industrial hemp have skyrocketed over the past few years, from four in January 2021 to hundreds per month in 2022 and 2023. More than half of the calls involved children. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has also seen an increase in reports of adverse events from these products.
Harris' daughter came home and told her mother she wasn't feeling well. Her expression was blank and her eyes were red. The parents took her to the emergency room, where a nurse recorded her heartbeat and found THC in her urine. Hospital staff told Harris that it was likely a marijuana product that was becoming increasingly popular in the area.
"All the kids in the school are too easily bought," Harris said. This is ridiculous!"
In some states, marijuana merchants have been selling marijuana-laced cookies and other foods to recreational users for nearly a decade under strict rules. But after the 2018 farm bill legalized industrial hemp, new products proliferated. The law defines industrial hemp as marijuana with a Delta-9 THC content of less than 0.3 percent. That definition ended up being a loophole, as businesses were able to extract federally legal but exciting chemicals from industrial hemp.
There are currently no federal rules specifically governing these products, and some states that have passed regulations have found them difficult to enforce. According to preliminary findings presented at a meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics in October, more than half of the large retailers selling Delta-8 (also a cannabis-derived compound) products online offer packaging that appeals to children.
Federal health officials have accused some companies of making Delta-8 products that appeal to children. The Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission issued warning letters in July to six companies that offer Delta-8 products that resemble Doritos, Cheetos and candy bars. Online retailers sell Delta-8 gummy bears, gummy worms and other candies for as little as $1 each.
Public health officials are concerned that these products, which have narcotic effects, are especially dangerous to children. These products may cause nausea and vomiting, or make children drowsy and at respiratory risk.
