Smoke shops across Montgomery County are selling unsafe and illegal marijuana and THC products—even to children—according to a nearly 100-page, ten-month grand jury investigation. The report from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office found that there is no oversight, accountability, or protection for public health regarding such products being sold in smoke shops, based on information provided to the grand jury by medical professionals, law enforcement, school officials, and retailers. High-potency THC products are sold under the guise of being legal hemp, young children have mistakenly consumed edibles that resemble popular candy products, and teenagers have purchased vaping cartridges and THC gummies without age verification.
According to both federal and Pennsylvania state laws, authorized hemp products containing a maximum of 0.3 percent of Delta-9 THC, the hallucinogenic in marijuana that makes users high, can be sold in public. However, this investigation directed by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office indicated that this legal hemp classification has been widely manipulated and abused by distributors who have marketed their high-potency marijuana products as being hemp-derived or legally compliant.
In Montgomery County alone, there are 240 smoke shops, with one for every 3,662 residents. They now outnumber schools in the county—almost one every two miles.
A total of 144 products were purchased by undercover law enforcement personnel from multiple retail locations spread out across Montgomery and Chester counties. Following a lab analysis, it was determined that 93.75 percent of products advertised as compliant “hemp” had THC levels well above Pennsylvania’s 0.3 percent legal limit. Some tested products showed THC levels that exceeded the limit of what testing equipment could measure.
Within these retail locations, the investigation found fraudulent or reworked lab reports to show compliance with regulations, THC-rich cannabis products being marketed as legal “hemp,” and vapes and edibles being marketed as “hemp” despite having illegal potencies.
The investigation also noted the lack of “any law establishing a minimum age for buying THC products” in Pennsylvania created an uncontrolled market that has “substantially expanded juvenile access.” Detectives recorded recurring sales to multiple teenagers in high school, who inadvertently consumed unregulated hemp products. While certain business owners report having self-imposed age limitations, the evidence presented to the grand jury indicated many retailers willingly sell marijuana-infused products to minors.
According to the report, many suppliers and merchants seemed to be purposefully promoting products to minors by imitating other products or using brightly colored packaging. “You got Cheetos with marijuana leaves on them,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele remarked, showing an image of THC-infused goods that mimicked the branding of well-known children’s snack brands. The frequent use of bright colors, cartoon graphics, and candy-shaped items, as described in the investigation, leaves consumers, especially children, “vulnerable to accidental overconsumption, severe psychiatric reactions, and hospitalization.” The study stated that trained law enforcement officers had difficulty discriminating between many types of marijuana edibles and common snacks.
Multiple instances of children purchasing marijuana-infused products were also cited. In one incident, the Lower Merion Police Department received a call that a fourteen-year-old had bought “Krisp Rice Treats,” resembling the notable brand “Rice Krispies Treats,” from a business in Lower Merion that contained 400 milligrams of “hemp-derived THC.” They appeared “out of their mind,” started throwing up, and showed obvious signs of intoxication, leading to their hospitalization. Importantly, the child stated that no identification was asked for when they purchased the product.
Investigators with “years of narcotics experience” said that many smoke shops had very similar operations to those found in traditional illicit drug-trade practices. Products were sold behind the counter, purchased from suppliers that could not be verified, and had little to no details included in the label information about what those products contained. “We need explicit permission for a school nurse to give Tylenol to our children, but our children can go into these shops and literally purchase and ingest an illegal substance with grave consequences, and we have to do better,” said Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn when discussing these incidents.
According to the grand jury’s recommendations, Pennsylvania legislators ought to establish a complete regulatory framework for managing what the grand jury believes to be an ever-expanding and uncontrolled THC marketplace, where many products are highly potent. The grand jury suggested that the first step toward creating a successful THC regulatory framework is to set the minimum purchasing age for all THC products at 21 years of age—matching the same purchasing ages as for alcohol and tobacco. Investigators stated that without age restrictions, Pennsylvania will have no effective way to limit youth access to high-potency products.
In addition, comprehensive oversight was advised for all aspects of retail sales of THC products. The grand jury called for standardized testing of all THC products in accredited laboratories, with a comprehensive listing of concentration and serving size information on the label, as well as clear health warnings.
The grand jury also advised strict packaging regulations to be put into effect that would prohibit the use of packaging designed to attract children and also prohibit the sale and promotion of products containing THC near a school, playground, or childcare facility.
This report comes after paused efforts to legalize recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania, something that would create laws regulating packaging and distributors as well as including measures preventing minors from purchasing such products.
While Pennsylvania continues to debate the future of recreational marijuana, the report notes that the current lack of regulation has created conditions that are already affecting consumers and contribute to increased accessibility for children. The grand jury’s stance is clear: unless Pennsylvania confronts these gaps now, an industry built on intentional manipulation and sales to minors will continue to flourish.
