COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine on Wednesday called on Ohio lawmakers to come up with legislation that would stop the sale of hemp-derived delta-8 THC products to children.
Delta-8 produces a high similar to the effects of marijuana, but milder. The compound is extracted by modifying hemp, which is a legal crop in Ohio.
Products containing delta-8 can mostly be found at vape stores or some gas stations.
DeWine said if he had it his way, delta-8 would be outright banned. But his main issue is there is no age limit to buy the products and they are being marketed in a way that is appealing to kids.
"The biggest concern we have is it is a product that looks like it should be consumed by a child. It is a product that is advertised by the packaging as if it is for a child. None of those things could occur if it was under the protocol of the sale of marijuana," DeWine said.
During the press conference, Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson said he bought two packages of delta-8 the night before. One of the packages said "Toasted Flakes" and had a tiger mascot that looked very similar to Tony the Tiger from Frosted Flakes, alluding to DeWine's point about the products being marketed toward children.
To show how easy it is for children to buy, Wilson also asked his 15-year-old nephew and his 15-year-old friend to go to a gas station to purchase delta-8 gummies from a gas station after a basketball game.
"Their instructions were not to be tricky and not to try to act older than they were. There was no doubt in looking at them that they were clearly underage," Wilson said. "In under 10 minutes and within three miles of their high school, the kids walked into a BP gas station and purchased THC gummies with no questions asked."
If regulated how DeWine wants, delta-8 products would be sold with restrictions similar to Ohio's new recreational marijuana laws which require products only be sold by licensed retailers to people 21 and older. The regulation would also ban "flashy advertising and packaging that attracts children."
Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have issued warnings about delta-8, saying it is potentially dangerous and there have been thousands of accidental poisonings.
Lance Himes with the Ohio Department of Health said in 2023, there were 102 reported delta-8 poisonings and 40 of those were children 5 and younger.
According to Dr. Gary Wenk, a professor of behavioral neurosciences at Ohio State University, delta-8 products can have a negative impact on brain development in young children.
"Children have difficulty paying attention in class. They become emotionally unstable. They have difficulty learning things. They stop attending classes. They start acting out at home. The parents know something is wrong, but if (their child) is just eating 'cereal' in their bedroom, it's easy for them to hide," said Dr. Wenk. "That's why this is a crisis, it's because it is a perfectly legal compound that does a great deal of well-documented harm."
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