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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) – Gov. JB Pritzker is calling on lawmakers to crack down on hemp products containing synthetic THC intoxicants like Delta-8.
“Every day that these products are on our shelves, we risk the health of another child or another adult,” Pritzker said during a press conference on Friday.
During the spring session, lawmakers worked on legislation to address the problem. The bill passed the Senate but stalled in the House.
Now, the governor is calling on them to take action during lame duck session in January before the new General Assembly is sworn in. Otherwise the process to pass the bill starts all over again.
“Too often, these products mimic the brand colors, names and designs of popular snack foods like those sold by our friends at Ferrara Candy [Co.],” Pritzker said while holding a package of real Nerds and a package that looks like Nerds but is actually a hemp product containing Delta-8. “You can see for yourselves. Without careful examination, you can hardly tell the difference between these two.”
The packaging on hemp products containing Delta-8 look just like name brand candies, cookies and snacks, but they’re not.
“Teenagers have no trouble accessing hemp derived and synthetic products from convenience stores and gas stations often packaged in ways to intentionally appeal to the youth,” Dr. Maria Rahmandar, M.D., the Medical Director of the Substance Use and Prevention Program at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, said. “They’re being seen within our clinic and within the emergency departments of our state.”
The legislation Pritzker is backing would regulate these products similar to how the state regulates cannabis. Under the proposal, only licensed dispensaries could sell these products instead of gas stations or convenience stores.
The bill would also ban packaging designed to look like the real products and ban marketing them to appeal to kids.
“The public deserves to have their children protected and to know that the products that they’re ingesting are safe,” Pritzker said.
When Congress passed the Farm Bill in 2018, it removed hemp from the schedule of controlled substances … legalizing hemp production within certain guidelines. But it failed to regulate the THC content in the hemp.
“It is vital we move forward towards regulation of hemp and Delta-8 products and do so in a way that is equitable and provides opportunities within the evolving industry,” State Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood), the bill’s Senate sponsor, said. “We support the hemp industry. This is not an effort to bash the hemp industry.”
The Illinois Hemp Business Association said they support hemp regulation but believe this bill would put a ban on the industry, completely doing away with nearly “all federally legal hemp-derived products, including CBD lotions, shampoos, and pet care items.”
“The legislation would benefit large marijuana corporations at the expense of Illinois residents and the legitimate small businesses that follow federal law, yet does nothing to curb online sales of hemp products to minors from out-of-state companies,” the organization said in a statement. “We agree with the calls to enhance consumer safety, but we must work together to craft thoughtful, targeted regulations that deliver real public health and economic solutions for our state.”