Nearly 8,000 people reported adverse effects after consuming products containing delta-8 THC or other intoxicating hemp compounds between 2021-2023, according to America’s network of poison control centers.
More than half of the reports to the National Poison Data System (NPDS) came from those under 19 years of age, and as many as 2,300 involved children under the age of six, according to Highly Legal, a cooperative journalistic effort among Alabama-based AL.com, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, PennLive and USA TODAY that reports on new cannabis products.
Consumers reported uncomfortable highs, and in some cases, panic attacks, psychosis, and hospitalization after consuming the synthetic, psychoactive compounds in edible products variously known as “diet weed,” “marijuana light,” or “gas station pot,” according to the reporting initiative.
In addition to being widely available in convenience stores, bodegas, CBD shops and other common retail outlets, online ads are also pushing the products, offered as gummies and other edibles that are marketed as “all-natural” or “made in the U.S.” Consumption is also fueled by online forums and social media, where some users suggest the hemp products help ease PTSD and chronic pain, according to the report.
Most of the compounds are produced synthetically by putting hemp-derived CBD through a process in the lab. In addition to delta-8 THC – the most popular of the substances – producers are also making synthetic delta-10 THC, THC-O-acetate, and THCP. The products are sold as an alternative to marijuana, which contains the psychoactive compound delta-9 THC.
In a recent survey by the National Institutes of Health of more than 2,000 high school students, 11% said they had used delta-8 in the last 12 months.
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