Last week, the U.S. Congress voted to close a dangerous loophole in American law: the one that allows unregulated, intoxicating hemp products to be sold to kids in every corner of this country. Every parent in America should be grateful for this effort to get these highly potent and unregulated substances off the market.
What started as a good-faith effort in the 2018 Farm Bill to legalize non-intoxicating industrial hemp has been hijacked by bad actors producing synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
These products are marketed as candy, soda or gummies and often look identical to children’s treats, even mimicking popular labels, such as Oreos and Sour Patch Kids. They are being sold nationwide with no age limits, no labeling standards and no oversight. The results have been devastating for families and communities.
Across the country, pediatric poison control calls have skyrocketed. In Indiana, exposures from intoxicating hemp products rose by an astonishing 2,482 percent between 2022 and 2025. In Texas, THC-related calls involving children five and under increased nearly 500 percent in recent years. Emergency rooms are seeing more kids showing up after eating hemp gummies that can be more intoxicating than the strongest illegal marijuana. Parents are left blindsided, and children are left exposed.
Congress never intended to legalize synthetic drugs that endanger children. Yet through technical ambiguity, manufacturers have built a nationwide market for these products, exploiting a legal gray area to sell powerful psychoactive chemicals under the banner of hemp. Shelves in gas stations, convenience stores and vape shops across America are now stocked with highly concentrated THC-like substances that were never meant to exist outside of a laboratory, let alone in a child’s hands.
Last month, a bipartisan group of attorneys general representing 39 states and U.S. territories, from California to Alabama, sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to fix this problem. They warned that unless the U.S. Congress acts, this unregulated industry will continue to flood the country with products “stocked to the brim” in gas stations and convenience stores, “often packaged and sold in ways meant deliberately to appeal to children.”
This is not a partisan issue. Attorneys general from red and blue states alike are united in calling for Washington to protect kids. Their warning is clear: state bans alone cannot stop the flow of mail-order THC products moving across state lines. This is a federal problem that requires a federal solution.
When Congress defined hemp as containing less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC, lawmakers did not foresee that scientists would use the plant to manufacture new, synthetic forms of THC with similar or stronger psychoactive effects. These substances, including delta-8, delta-10, THC-O and others, are the result of chemical shortcuts that bypass safeguards meant to protect children and consumers.
Protecting America’s families is one of the most basic duties of government. When parents send their kids to school or walk them into a corner store, they should be able to trust that what sits on the shelves is not deliberately misleading and dangerous. Today, brightly colored bags of hemp candy sit next to chips and gum, sometimes even with cartoon mascots.
For many parents, this is reminiscent of the ongoing challenges posed by vaping. In that instance, regulators were caught flat-footed, allowing a generation of teenagers to become addicted before the government finally began stepping in.
As a country, we have the chance to learn from that mistake and stop the proliferation of intoxicating hemp products before it grows worse. Congress’s action last week reflects what government is supposed to do: protect the most vulnerable—specifically children.
This is about more than policy. It is about priorities. Our policymakers at the federal, state and local level should build on last week’s momentum and stand with families and children by controlling these products once and for all.
Patrick McHenry is a former member of Congress (R-NC-10) and chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.
Read Full Article »
