Overview
- A 107-page report capped a 10-month investigation by the Montgomery, Bucks and Chester county district attorneys that included 144 undercover purchases for lab testing.
- Nearly 94% of products marketed as Farm Bill-compliant hemp tested as marijuana, with many supported by misleading packaging and fraudulent lab certificates.
- Investigators identified about 240 hemp retailers in Montgomery County, which the report says now outnumber schools and offer easy access for minors.
- Documented harms included repeated sales to 16- and 17-year-olds and a 14-year-old who was hospitalized after consuming a high-potency edible.
- Prosecutors recommend statewide licensing, accredited testing, marketing limits and a 21-plus age floor, noting recent enforcement — including 16 search warrants and over $500,000 seized in Chester County — cannot substitute for legislative action also urged by a coalition of state attorneys general.