Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) cautioned fellow lawmakers on the Senate floor Wednesday against unregulated cannabis products designed to look like popular candies and snack foods, urging Congress to enforce upcoming restrictions on hemp-derived intoxicants.
Holding up visual comparisons of standard snacks alongside knockoff edibles—including products resembling Sour Patch Kids, Nerds, and Fritos—Ricketts argued that manufacturers are intentionally packaging intoxicating hemp compounds to appeal to children and broaden their market share.
“We have a drug problem in this country today, and right now there is an industry that is targeting our children with lookalike products with intoxicating levels of THC,” Ricketts said during his remarks.
