Raleigh, N.C. — The debate is heating up over a hemp product that’s popular with college-aged students because it provides a marijuana-like high. But one student told WRAL Investigates that the drug has a downside.
“I wanted to go and get some CBD (cannibidiol) because it helps me with my anxiety,” said the student, who didn’t want to be identified.
The hemp extract has been shown to help people with everything from anxiety to sleep to joint pain. CBD is a chemical found in marijuana, but it doesn’t include THC, the psychoactive ingredient in pot. In North Carolina, you can buy CBD if you’re 18.
Our student, who is 18, went to a new store across from North Carolina State University’s campus, because the business she used in the past closed shop a few doors down.
“[I] went in asked if they had some gummies and they were like ‘Yeah, here,” she said.
But what she asked for at VIP Smoke Vape and Wireless isn’t what she got. She says it set off a frightening few hours,
“30 minutes I’m later I’m eating and feeling nauseous and it kind of sends me in a panic attack.”
She was given a product called Delta-8 gummies, which do have THC.
After eating just one, she started losing it, “My whole body was shaking and I couldn’t control it.”
The student called her father to bring her some nausea medicine, but by the time he got to campus, the student was worried.
“We gotta go to the ER or something because I feel awful,” she recalls telling her father.
“I spent four hours in the ER just like shaking,” she said.
While at the ER, she was treated for a panic attack with Valium and was eventually OK.
The product she was given is clearly marked 21 and over, which she’s not, and she wasn’t asked for ID. Under the 2018 Farm Bill Act and state law, you only need to be 18 to buy the THC. However, retailers are advised to follow instructions on packaging for the THC products.
WRAL Investigates delivered a letter to the owner asking about the underage sale. He declined an interview, but the next day sent us this statement, which read in part, “…our mission is to sell only safe, high quality and enjoyable products made by reputable manufacturers. Our staff is trained to sell only to eligible purchasers.”
A few days after her initial purchase, the student went in and asked for CBD. This time she was sold THC Pop Rocks. They contained Delta-9, which has a higher concentration of THC. The staff also did not check the student’s I.D.
“This is a product you’re buying in a convenience store that’s all but marijuana,” North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein told WRAL Investigates. “I’m really concerned about Delta.”
He’s not alone, 18 states (Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, and Washington) have already banned or heavily restricted Delta 8 products. A move in Texas to do the same is being challenged in court.
Recently, the Food and Drug Administration sent out a warning about Delta-8 products. Part of the warning cited statistics from other agencies. Poison control centers are seeing a surge in Delta-8 problems with 39% involving teens younger 18 and nearly one in five of those cases ending up with a trip to the hospital.
“We need to protect kids from this product,” Stein noted while talking about how easily available the product is, including stores right next high schools, including Raleigh’s Broughton.
Stein doesn’t want to ban Delta-8. In fact he supports decriminalizing minor marijuana cases. He just wants better regulation and laws that make sense.
“If you’re walking around the street with this product [marijuana], you’re going to go to jail. The very same product, 70% of the same product, you can go buy it at a convenience store. I mean it’s crazy,” Stein said.
This student thinks more regulation and education of clerks and consumers is needed before other teens have the experience she had.
“Make sure they’re selling you what you know,” she said. “Delta-8 was kind of terrifying because I had no idea what was happening. This was so bad, like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”