“Buying products with delta-8 THC is similar to buying heroin, it’s buyer beware, you don’t know what you’re going to get,” Fannin County Sheriff Dane Kirby said.
Kirby was talking about the recent dangers that have come to the forefront with delta-8 THC products after two Pickens County first graders were sent to the emergency room. Both had eaten what they thought was candy.
Hannah Puddick, the mother of Bryson Puddick, one of the victims, was quoted in the Pickens County Progress as saying, “He looked gray and pale. If he hadn’t opened his eyes, I would have thought he was dead.”
Bryson slipped in and out of consciousness. His mother said, “(Bryson) couldn’t remember my husband and me were there. We had no idea what was happening. No parent should have to go through that.”
The Food and Drug Administration warns, “Delta 8-THC products have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA for safe use and may be marked in ways that put the public at risk.”
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said, in a February 13, 2023, letter, delta-8 THC0 and delta-9 THC0 are controlled substances.
Products containing very low levels of cannabis-derived THC amounts are considered legal in Georgia. They are widely available in shops, especially convenience stores, around the state.
Delta-8 THC products are advertised as containing extremely low levels of THC, but this is not always the case, which is how the products can be compared to heroin.
“Drug dealers are putting fentanyl, which is extremely dangerous, into heroin. Users never know how much has been added. The results can be deadly,” Kirby said.
Children are at risk because many products containing delta 8-THC look like candy. This is what happened to the Pickens County students who were given candy by a friend. When school officials searched the students’ bags, they found a package with the delta-8 made to look like the popular Nerds candy.
“False advertising to sell a product” is at the heart of the problem, Kirby said.
Some merchants are buying their delta-8 THC products where marijuana is legal, then selling the products in Georgia. Packages look the same as what is legal, but the potency of the contents is much greater, Kirby said.
“The hard core marijuana users know what to look for, while an occasional user or someone grabbing what looks like candy is unaware of what they are getting. And the sellers know what they’re selling,” Kirby said.
The only possible way to tell the difference is the price. The potent products will carry a cost of anywhere from $20 to $80. “That’s a lot more than a bag of Nerds for a child,” Kirby said.