Weed Gummies Found in One State to Be 40x Legal Limit

Scientists in Mississippi discovered over-the-counter marijuana products that contained 30 to 40 times the amount of THC allowed under the state's 2018 Farm Bill.

Steep Hill Cannabis Lab, the first licensed medical marijuana testing lab in Mississippi, analyzed the Delta-9 cannabis products, which included edible gummies, vapes and pre-rolls.

Cliff Osbon, co-founder of Steep Hill, told the Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi, that some of the products had 12-14 percent Delta-9 THC. Under the bill, hemp can only be 0.3 percent Delta-9.

"This is a lot higher levels than we expected," Osbon told the Ledger. "They also had edibles or gummies for sale and some of those were available in strengths and quantities greater than a person with a medical marijuana card in Mississippi can go buy at a legal dispensary."

Osbon said he purchased the readily available products at gas stations and convenience stores.

"While we only tested items purchased in our (Rankin) county, we know that similar products are being sold throughout our state and throughout the U.S. in many other states," Osbon said in an email response to Newsweek. "We believe that our actions may help shed light on this potential public safety issue."

In addition to their strength, Steep Hill also documented the presence of eight pesticides, some at 20 times the allowed levels for medical cannabis.

Steep Hill said it is not releasing the names of the products they tested.

In April, Mississippi legalized medical marijuana. There are a total of 41 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, with medical marijuana programs. Twenty-three states have decriminalized cannabis or have full adult-use programs.

Osbon told Newsweek that none of the items purchased and tested were part of the state's legal, medical marijuana program. He also said Steep Hill has not "seen legal, medical marijuana program samples with pesticide levels that in any way came close to those we detected in the convenience store products."

House Republican Representative Lee Yancey, who serves as chairman of the Drug Policy Committee, said he wants to enact swift regulation of these products.

"Any bill that comes forward, if we even allow these products to continue to be sold, would require them to be tested and make sure there's no pesticides or too much THC," Yancey told Mississippi Public Broadcasting. "The public deserves to know that the products that they buy are safe."

When reached via email, Yancey told Newsweek the state may consider several options regarding the regulation of these products.

"We could ban them all together. We could require all CBD products to be tested and prove they are in compliance with the latest federal regulations (contain less than .3% THC) and require a Certificate of Analysis from a trusted lab," Yancey said. "We could place more stringent age restrictions on the purchase of these products. Finally, we could require that these products be purchased only in a medical cannabis dispensary which would require them to go through the same testing process as medical cannabis."

Yancey said he is especially concerned about middle and high school students being able to purchase these products.

"This is just a wake-up call for all of us," Yancey told Mississippi Public Broadcasting. "These findings confirm that there is illegal activity going on. There are people selling drugs to minors in gas stations all across our state, and we're going to do something about it."

He said calls from principals helped lead to the investigation into these products.

"A number of school principals have made me aware that students are purchasing CBD vapes at CBD stores or convenience stores that are making them high throughout the day," Yancey said.

Update 12/16/23, 9:24 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comments from Rep. Lee Yancey and Steep Hill Mississippi co-founder, Cliff Osbon.