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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Wednesday signed an executive order banning THC-containing beverages, gummies and other “intoxicating hemp.”
Retailers in the Buckeye State will be required to remove all gummies, beverages, cookies and other products containing THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) — the main psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant — from shelves by Oct. 14.
“Intoxicating hemp products are known to have significant impacts on young, developing brains, yet these products are legally marketed to kids, sold to kids and ingested by kids in Ohio,” DeWine stated in a press release.
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Various intoxicating products are marketed in colorful packaging emulating popular candy brands.
Exposure during adolescence, while the brain is still developing, has been linked to poorer learning, memory and attention problems, as well as changes in brain development, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
Intoxicating hemp is made by manipulating compounds found in hemp plants to create toxic compounds like delta-8-THC and delta-9-THC.
Exposures to these compounds among those aged 19 and younger increased to 994 from 419 between 2021 and 2024, according to Ohio Poison Control (OPC).
Among children 5 and under, the number of exposures nearly tripled between 2021 and 2024, going from 202 to 555.
About 90% of children 12 and under who were exposed to THC ended up in the emergency room, with two-thirds requiring hospitalization, per the OPC.
Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel told Fox News Digital that the problem stems from lack of regulation of cannabis products.
“This ban is temporary, but appropriate given the dangers.”
“The 2018 Farm Bill opens up a Pandora’s box, where hemp products are used to justify unregulated use of THC gummiest, drinks and intoxicating hemp products,” he added.
The 2018 Farm Bill, or the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, legalized industrial hemp at the federal level.
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“This ban is temporary, but appropriate given the dangers,” Siegel said.
DeWine noted that when Ohioans voted to legalize marijuana, they only voted for licensing dispensaries to sell products to those 21 or older.
“Intoxicating hemp completely bypasses these laws, and we must do more to keep these products away from kids,” the governor said.
Any THC-containing products must be returned to the manufacturer or handed them over to law enforcement, the order states.
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Retailers who break the order could face a $500 fine per day if the products are still offered for sale, and the Ohio Department of Agriculture will have the authority to confiscate any of the products.
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