CLEVELAND — The government agency that oversees legal cannabis sales in Ohio is sounding an alarm over intoxicating hemp products that they say are being packaged to appeal to children.
The Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) issued a consumer alert about products containing Delta-8 THC in colorful packaging with names and branding designed to look like popular snack foods and candies.
Delta-8 is a psychoactive substance that is found in hemp plants, and is a different chemical compound from the Delta-9 THC products that Ohio citizens voted to have legalized and regulated. Delta-8 is currently unregulated by the government and can commonly be found in stores across the country, even in states where Delta-9 THC is illegal.
“The DeWine-Husted administration has said repeatedly that we have this clear and present danger on store shelves across the state by way of unregulated, untested and unsafe products containing Delta-8 THC that are easily obtainable by Ohio’s youth,” said DCC Superintendent Jim Canepa. “As the division prepares to introduce non-medical cannabis products that have met our highest standards of testing and safety, we must ensure dangerous, unregulated products such as Delta-8 are removed from circulation. The packaging of these products can make them look exactly like candy and the products themselves lack any testing requirements, so Ohio consumers, especially children, have no way of knowing exactly what they are purchasing, which is extremely dangerous.”
The Ohio Department of Commerce shared an image with its consumer alert showing the packaging of some of the products the DCC is targeting. The packaging features product names like "Double Stuff Stoneo," “Stoney Ranchers” and “Trips Ahoy.”
The DCC’s consumer alert comes days after the Federal Trade Commission sent cease-and-desist letters to five companies they accuse of using packaging that parodies food items that are popular among young people.
Gov. Mike DeWine has previously railed against the availability of Delta-8 products in Ohio, including a January call for the Ohio General Assembly to legislate the drugs off of the state’s shelves.