News outlets continue to highlight how marijuana edibles containing THC are poisoning children across America.
In New York, USA Today reports 11 middle schoolers were hospitalized on Monday after a classmate gave them gummies laced with THC.
This week, health officials in North Carolina released a report showing a surge in Poison Control calls about children exposed to THC.
Edibles and other substances containing high doses of THC are sometimes manufactured from industrial hemp — or cannabis.
Industrial hemp generally is characterized as cannabis plants that are low in THC, but a loophole in federal law has let manufacturers extract as much THC as possible out of industrial hemp. That THC is sometimes infused into gummies, candies, and other edibles.
Nationwide, THC products like these are sending kids to the emergency room, because children often cannot tell them apart from ordinary snack foods.
All of this is troubling, given that a bill filed at the Arkansas Legislature last week would legalize drinks that contain THC made from industrial hemp.
H.B. 1578 by Rep. Aaron Pilkington (R — Knoxville) and Sen. Joshua Bryant (R — Rogers) allows drinks containing hemp-derived Delta-9 THC to be manufactured, distributed, and sold in Arkansas. The bill sets age restrictions, licensing requirements, and manufacturing guidelines for these drinks, but it does not clearly restrict the amount of THC a hemp-derived drink could contain.
Obviously, that raises serious concerns about the measure and the unintended consequences it could carry.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
