COLUMBUS — The Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Cannabis Control issued a consumer alert regarding cannabis products containing Delta-8 THC that feature packaging appealing to children.

This comes on the heels of cease-and-desist letters issued July 16 by the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission to five companies for utilizing packaging that imitates food items popular with young people. The letter orders the companies to immediately stop marketing these products to children.

The action follows months of warnings issued by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control regarding the dangers posed by these unregulated, untested and unsafe products. Because intoxicating hemp products are not currently regulated, current Ohio law does not prevent its sale to Ohioans, including to children. DeWine has called for immediate action to get these products removed from Ohio store shelves.

“The DeWine-Husted administration has said repeatedly that we have this clear and present danger on store shelves across the state by way of unregulated, untested and unsafe products containing Delta-8 THC that are easily obtainable by Ohio’s youth,” said DCC Superintendent Jim Canepa. “As the division prepares to introduce non-medical cannabis products that have met our highest standards of testing and safety, we must ensure dangerous, unregulated products such as Delta-8 are removed from circulation. The packaging of these products can make them look exactly like candy and the products themselves lack any testing requirements, so Ohio consumers, especially children, have no way of knowing exactly what they are purchasing, which is extremely dangerous.”

While the division does not regulate products that contain Delta-8 THC, it emphasizes the difference between these products and products regulated by the division that have met stringent standards.

When a customer purchases a product from a licensee that carries the Division of Cannabis Control seal, they can know that product meets the division’s highest standards of testing and safety. On the other hand, Delta-8 and similar products outside of the DCC-regulated market are unregulated, untested and unsafe since there’s no telling what may be contained in that product. These products have resulted in the hospitalizations of youth across the state.

The General Assembly can initiate changes independently, and the division wants lawmakers to take up and fix several issues as soon as possible. The DeWine-Husted Administration has taken a proactive stance on cannabis regulation and continues to call on the General Assembly for tighter control over Delta-8 THC products.