Delta-8 THC: What is it and why is it raising concerns?

Updated: 4:51 PM EST Nov 12, 2021

Around the country, some parents are growing concerned over a product occasionally dubbed weed light or diet weed. Experts say delta-8 THC is in a legal gray area and can cause negative health effects, sister station WGAL investigated. Delta-8 THC products are being sold online and in stores in different forms. "It can come in Rice Krispies treats, gummies, candies, a whole litany of edibles," said Michael Reisinger, who runs American Shaman in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.Reisinger said his customers, who must be 21 or older, are using it for things like sleep, relaxation and pain relief."The same thing that they’re looking and turning to CBD for, delta-8 can help with the same relief," he said.Delta-8 THC is a psychoactive substance found in very low levels in the hemp plant. But CBD can be synthesized into high levels of delta-8 and added to products.The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp and hemp products as long as they have less than 0.3% of delta-9 THC, the compound in marijuana that causes a high. But the bill doesn't address delta-8."It lives in that gray area," attorney Bill Roark said.Roark, who teaches cannabis law and regulation, said people may believe delta-8 is legal because it is derived from hemp. "I don't think anyone can say that the intent of the Farm Bill was to find another way to create a legalized psychoactive drug," he said.The Food and Drug Administration recently issued a warning that some delta-8 THC products can have serious health risks. It said there have been adverse event reports in the last year involving 22 patients. They experienced vomiting, hallucinations and other issues."You don't know what you're getting. You're getting an adulterated hemp material and so it really needs to be buyer beware," said Dr. Kent Vrana, a pharmacologist with the Penn State College of Medicine.When Reisinger was asked whether people are using delta-8 THC to get high, he said, "Not in our experience. I can't say for every single person. Nine times out of 10, there's not a psychoactive element that's hit. While there's the potential, we want to be more safe than sorry."Nineteen states have regulated, restricted or banned the sale of delta-8 THC products, which include Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.Watch the video above for more on this story.

The Drug Enforcement Administration issued a public safety alert warning of an increase of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine in the United States.

The counterfeit pills are marketed as legitimate prescription pills and are killing Americans at an unprecedented rate, according to the DEA alert. Some of the fake pills contain two milligrams of fentanyl, which is considered a lethal dose.

More than 9.5 million counterfeit pills were seized this year, which is more than the last two years combined. And the pills have been found in every state in the U.S.

The pills are illegally manufactured and are made to look like authentic prescription opioid medications such as oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet), hydrocodone (Vicodin) and alprazolam (Xanax); or stimulants like amphetamines (Adderall).

The DEA warns these pills are often sold on social media platforms — making them available to anyone with a smartphone, including minors.

"The United States is facing an unprecedented crisis of overdose deaths fueled by illegally manufactured fentanyl and methamphetamine," Anne Milgram, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said in a news release. "Counterfeit pills that contain these dangerous and extremely addictive drugs are more lethal and more accessible than ever before. In fact, DEA lab analyses reveal that two out of every five fake pills with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose. DEA is focusing resources on taking down the violent drug traffickers causing the greatest harm and posing the greatest threat to the safety and health of Americans. Today, we are alerting the public to this danger so that people have the information they need to protect themselves and their children."

This public safety alert is the first in six years from the DEA.

This alert does not apply to legitimate pharmaceutical medications prescribed by medical professionals and dispensed by licensed pharmacists, the agency said.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — As the U.S. grapples with a surge in drug overdoses linked to synthetic opioids, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has launched an initiative to disrupt the fentanyl supply chain.

“Never before in the past have we said, 'taking this drug will not hurt you. It will kill you.' In 2021, that’s where we are," said John Callery, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA San Diego Field Division. "Hence, 'Wave Breaker' – we have to get people educated. We have to get our local partners on board, and our federal partners, to understand exactly where we are.”

Callery has spent the last 29 years decoding the ever-changing playbooks of drug cartels.

“It doesn’t change every decade; it changes every two or three years," said Callery. "The only difference is the drugs on the streets of the United States right now are, by far, the deadliest they’ve ever been.”

From San Diego to New York, agents in 11 cities are working closely together, synthesizing enforcement efforts targeting the Sinaloa Cartel. Divisions participating in Project Wave Breaker are credited with 85% of all synthetic opioids seized by the DEA in 2020.

“Sinaloa, think of Chapo, Chapo Guzmán and his kids, Mayo Zambada. That’s Sinaloa Cartel. They have kind of garnered the market on fentanyl, as we speak, but you’ll certainly see that change in the next year to three years.”

Project Wave Breaker will direct interdiction, enforcement, and outreach efforts to the San Diego Field Division.

“You can call it OxyContin, Norco. You can call it whatever you want. At the end of the day, it’s heroin," said Special Agent Callery.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Callery says the surge in demand for prescription opioids fueled the deadly flow of fentanyl into the U.S.

“If you dose it right, it’s a fantastic heroin high. But If you’re off by a microgram, you’re going to die."

He says 70 to 80 percent of all fentanyl in the U.S. first crosses the southern California border.

“The cartels responded to that demand, for sure," said Ev Meade, a professor of practice at the Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego.

A historian of Mexico, Meade is documenting the violence in places like Sinaloa.

“This fentanyl stuff is lethal. It's a public health emergency in both countries," said Meade. “But it’s also not like this was something that the Mexican cartels dreamed up and wanted to sell to the United States."

He says pharmaceutical companies laid the groundwork for the crisis, years before most Americans knew what fentanyl was.

"Who’s responsible? I think we all know who’s responsible when we think about it with the right hat on. It's the drug companies and U.S. physicians who created the opioid crisis; over-prescription and over-sale of these drugs," said Meade.

And Meade says much of the fentanyl supply has been imported into Mexico from countries like China.

"Mexico is a transit country, and the Mexican cartels are really good at that. They have, obviously, a lot of experience. They have diverse supply chains," said Meade.

But Special Agent Callery says the landscape is shifting.

“They [China] closed many, many of those fentanyl labs. Unfortunately, it’s still ongoing illicitly. But the scary part is something we predicted three, four years ago," said Callery. "Once that supply chain gets blocked, or it stops, the cartels are not going to stop. They’ve started creating their own fentanyl labs in Mexico. They've started creating their own chemicals required for fentanyl in Mexico. So sooner or later, they won't need that connection to Asia anymore. They'll be able to produce on their own."

Wave Breaker divisions are also expanding outreach to the community.

"It's not just focusing on, 'let’s seize OxyContin, let's seize fentanyl.' It's getting the communities involved. It's educating communities. DEA's, now that COVID is lifting a little bit, we're able to get back out to schools, we're able to get back out to medical schools, to pharmacists, to conventions, and talk to people about what's been going on in the last year-and-a-half when everything's kind of been on hold," said Callery.

“You can’t do a law enforcement approach without a public health approach – they’ve got to go hand-in-hand," said Meade. “You know, DARE is a stupid program, frankly. It never showed good results. But we need DARE for fentanyl. We need public information that says, you could use this once and die."

While the pandemic strained cartel operations in early 2020, Callery says they were able to adapt within months.

He says their division has discovered several tunnels since January 2020, but there's likely more they aren't aware of.

"It's that cat and mouse game that we’ve been playing since the 50s in the narcotics war."

But Callery says the DEA is also adjusting its playbook.

“We are putting people in jail who’ve provided fentanyl to addicts, and we’re charging them with homicide because they knew they were giving them a drug that was very deadly," said Callery.

Created in 2018, the Narcotics Task Force Team 10 is a multi-agency team housed by DEA to address drug overdose deaths in San Diego. Agencies on Team 10 include DEA, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, California Department of Healthcare Services, and San Diego Police Department.

"That's non-traditional. That's not something DEA has done in the past," said Callery. "It’s something we’re doing here because the community needs it."