Unregulated Delta 8 remains a concern amid marijuana legalization talk, as teens and toddlers gain access to it

As the debate over recreational marijuana continues, a related issue medical and legal experts say poses a threat to children is a growing concern.

Delta 8 edibles look like the kind of sugary, fruit-flavored gummy candy toddlers devour by the handful. But pediatricians say these products — packaged almost identically to candy, snack foods and chocolates — are anything but child’s play. They contain Delta 8 THC, a psychoactive chemical derivative of the hemp plant that packs a high, just like Delta 9, the THC compound in marijuana.

Delta 8 products are sold in vape and smoke shops and even some convenience stores, and authorities say they’re often getting into the hands of toddlers and teens.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration first issued a cautionary report on the effects of Delta 8 in 2022, citing nearly 2,400 reported cases of adverse effects at poison centers across the country. One case was classified as resulting in the death of a child.

A 4-year-old Virginia boy died in May 2022 after reportedly ingesting up to 15 Delta 8 gummies, according to prosecutors. His mother was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with 10 years suspended, on charges of involuntary manslaughter and child abuse and neglect.

About Delta 8

Delta 8 burst into the marketplace shortly after the federal government legalized the production of industrial hemp in 2018.

It was common knowledge that hemp contained small amounts of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol. THC is the chemical that acts on the brain and affects mood, behavior and thoughts. Federal law specified that anything with a THC concentration of 0.3% or less — like CBD oil — was legal. But a gray area was born when chemists began cooking that legal CBD oil to synthesize it into Delta 8 in unregulated vape cartridges and candy-like edibles.

Two issues, in particular, have developed surrounding Delta 8:

• The unregulated nature of the market leaves consumers unsure exactly what is in the product.

• Packaging that resembles candy products makes Delta 8 products attractive to youngsters.

Delta 8 products have been banned by law in at least 17 states and severely restricted in seven others. In Pennsylvania, it is designated as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, but it is still sold in the shadow of county courthouses, police stations and even the Capitol.

Going after vape shops

Some county prosecutors have pursued those selling Delta 8 products.

Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli is among those who have vowed to crack down. She said the danger Delta 8 products pose to children and teens is too serious to ignore.

Vape shop owners who carry Delta 8 products and spoke to TribLive said they limit sales exclusively to adults. They described the product, commonly referred to as marijuana’s little brother, as a mild relaxant not unlike an alcoholic drink. However, police in Westmoreland County started investigating some vape shops after complaints about the shops selling controlled substances to minors.

Detectives in Ziccarelli’s office recently raided shops in Hempfield, Latrobe, Delmont and Lower Burrell that authorities believe were selling illegal substances to children.

Murrysville police were part of a 2023 raid on a tobacco and vape shop on Route 22 that netted 33 pounds of THC-infused items, including edibles. That also was driven, in part, by parent complaints that children were in possession of products obtained from the businesses. Five people are facing charges in connection with that raid.

“We cited a shop on Route 22 three times for selling vapes to kids,” Murrysville Police Chief Tom Kusinsky said. “You can’t keep up with these products. Every week there’s something new coming out.”

“In a 12-month period, we tracked 12 children who were under 18 who needed to go to the hospital via ambulance because of these products,” Ziccarelli said, adding that is just the tip of what she said is a much larger problem in schools. “Sometimes we don’t get called and no one is alerted. There are a lot of times when there is erratic behavior and parents are just called to take them home.”

Even advocates for marijuana legalization say Delta 8 products are problematic.

“It is 100% unregulated. There are no standards. You have no idea what you are getting, and it is being packaged as gummies and candy, which is extremely irresponsible,” said Patrick Nightingale, a lawyer and longtime spokesman for the local chapter of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML.

Samir Sarna is an attorney with Pittsburgh firm Worgul, Sarna and Ness. The law firm is among NORML’s contact list for marijuana lawyers in Allegheny County.

“We see cases filed in Pennsylvania where stores are selling Delta 8 products that are legal according to the federal government, and they’re being charged in state courts,” Sarna said. “I haven’t seen the federal government charging anyone from these stores. It’s been the state.”

Sounding the alarm

Delta 8’s popularity among teens has set off alarms among public health advocates, law enforcement agencies and legislators. A National Institutes of Health study released in the spring found about 11% of high school seniors nationwide reported using Delta 8 in the past year.

Dr. Anthony Pizon, assistant director of the Pittsburgh Poison Control Center, said the center logged 40 calls involving Delta 8 overdoses last year — most of them among children 6 and younger.

“(Delta 8 items) come as gummy candies and brownies. And when a child sees things like that, they think it’s OK to ingest them. The kids will eat a whole brownie or a whole gummy, and they’re admitted to the hospital,” Pizon said. “The most severe cases, they are extremely sedate. Their blood pressure is low, and the heart rate is low.

“I don’t think people realize Delta 8 has the same effect as Delta 9 (the THC molecule contained in marijuana). You just need to take a larger dose to get the same effect.”

Pizon is also UPMC’s chief of the medical toxicology division. UPMC operates Children’s Hospital in Lawrenceville. Pizon said children come through emergency rooms about once a week after ingesting some form of marijuana, though it can be difficult to determine exactly what the substance is.

“Children are definitely getting into food products like gummies and candies that have this in it, and they’re just becoming sedated on it,” he said.

Pizon has concerns about the packaging of some of these products. He advised parents to keep any substances locked away.

Local school officials were hesitant to discuss the issue with TribLive, but they spoke freely at a Sept. 13 gathering of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators.

Sherri Smith, executive director of the organization, said school officials described problems with vaping and Delta 8 items as rampant.

Such products are prohibited in schools. But Smith said school officials across the state are catching students vaping, or using e-cigarettes — which can be loaded with Delta 8, marijuana or tobacco — in schools almost every day. They’ve also seen medical emergencies such as seizures triggered by students consuming edibles or vaping, Smith said.

And the problem doesn’t go away when the dismissal bell rings.

“(Administrators) said it’s a problem with people bringing them to sporting events, where you’ve got parents who are using,” she said.

Meeting a standard?

Some people involved in producing Delta 8 products have voiced concerns about the Wild West nature of the market.

Jonathan John, CEO of Circus Cannabis, a South Hills laboratory that produces Delta 8, would like to see producers held to health and safety standards that he says he observes.

“I’m an advocate for regulation now, because there is a lot of product out there that could potentially harm consumers. Anyone can do pretty much anything right now,” he said. “It’s very important to find a tested brand and certificates of analysis to make sure (Delta 8 products) are coming from a legitimate lab, from reputable accredited labs. They are monitored and audited. If the tests are coming from legitimate labs, there is nothing to worry about.”

But if that is not the case, the products could contain contaminants ranging from mold and bacteria to heavy metals, according to a report from the Coalition for Cannabis.

Jason Erkes echoed John’s concerns. Erkes is chief communications officer for Cresco Labs, a medical marijuana company that has 75 dispensaries, 15 in Pennsylvania, including one in New Kensington and a manufacturing facility in Brookville.

The products Cresco produces are held to high standards and production regulations, Erkes said, but that’s not true of Delta 8 products that some are pushing as a cheaper alternative to medical marijuana.

“You don’t know what’s in them or where it’s coming from. You don’t even know if it came from this country,” he said. “It’s a public safety issue because a lot of people are being misled about what they are getting. Some of them even claim it is marijuana. But these are synthetically made products from a lab. They are no different than the designer club drugs, which have caused a lot of people to get sick in the past.”

Calls to regulate

There are growing calls to regulate Delta 8 products.

In Ohio, where Gov. Mike DeWine has called for regulation or an outright ban, a GOP lawmaker in November introduced a measure to do just that.

In Harrisburg, state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, a longtime advocate of legal adult-use recreational marijuana, said unregulated Delta 8 products are eating into the market for pricier, regulated medical marijuana and likely would eat into the market for recreational marijuana should it be legalized. There are also the continuing public health threats of unregulated products, he said.

The most recent measures in the Legislature that call for legalizing recreational marijuana also include Delta 8 among products subject to regulation under the law, said Meredith Buttner, executive director of the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition, a Harrisburg-based trade group that represents the state’s medical marijuana industry.

“It set up a strong starting framework to start the much-needed regulation of those products. It’s a market that is often very attractive to children,” she said.

“One block from the Capitol, you can buy one labeled Candyland in a bright pink package,” Buttner added. “As the parent of a 7-year-old, I would never want to see anything like that on the regulated market.”