By Danny Bowen – Retired Albemarle NC Police ChiefÂ
As a police chief in North Carolina, I have spent my career enforcing the law as it is written to protect the communities I serve. I am now watching, with growing frustration, as a federal loophole has allowed a de facto drug market to operate openly in our communities under the guise of farm policy. That loophole was supposed to close on November 12. Congress extended it to December 11 in a spending bill passed in the early hours of the morning. As this new deadline approaches, I am urging Congress to let it expire and oppose any further extension.
Walk into a gas station, vape shop, or convenience store across our state, and you will find gummies, vapes, drinks, and flower containing THC, often in potent and unsafe concentrations that regulated marijuana markets would not allow. How is this possible? Because a federal loophole allows companies to market these products as hemp-derived THC rather than marijuana.
A former staffer at a marijuana advocacy group put it plainly: “THCa flower is marijuana by another name, designed to confuse people into thinking it’s different. Delta-8, HHC, THCP and whatever comes next are lab-made versions of THC, produced because actual hemp contains so little natural delta-9.” These are not simply agricultural products or harmless supplements. They are intoxicating substances that carry real risks. Delta-8 THC has never been approved by the FDA for safe medical or recreational use, and some of these compounds can be significantly more potent than naturally occurring THC.
The dangers of this intoxicating hemp market could not be clearer. Earlier this year, independent testing of 21 intoxicating hemp products purchased from retailers across North Carolina showed that 13 contained unsafe levels of bacteria, yeast, mold, or coliform. Five contained synthetic cannabinoids not disclosed on the label. One vape contained five times the legal limit of delta-9 THC. The lab director, a past president of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists, said the results were consistent with what she has seen while testing unregulated hemp markets for years.
From a law enforcement perspective, this market creates the very conditions we spend our careers trying to prevent: potent products sold without consistent age restrictions, reliable labeling, or meaningful accountability when something goes wrong. Children and teenagers nationally account for more than half of all reported delta-8 THC exposures to poison control centers. North Carolina health officials have also attributed a surge in emergency department visits to the proliferation of hemp products. Meanwhile, this loophole allows companies to market intoxicating products to teenagers through social media and sell them online in ways that would face far greater restrictions if they involved alcohol or tobacco.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Sheriffs’ Association have both urged Congress not to extend this loophole any further. I stand with them. This is not a partisan issue. It is a matter of public safety, protecting our children, and giving law enforcement the tools necessary to keep dangerous and unregulated intoxicants out of our communities.
Congress has an opportunity to put the safety of North Carolina families ahead of an industry that has repeatedly demonstrated the dangers of operating without meaningful oversight. December 11 should mark the end of this loophole, not another starting line for an industry that has shown it cannot be trusted. I urge North Carolina’s congressional delegation and leaders in Washington to stand with law enforcement, reject any further extension, and finally close the hemp loophole.