For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, June 22, 2022

Contact:
Nazneen Ahmed (919) 716-0060

(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein today called on Congress to take action on copycat THC edibles. These products are designed to look like popular snack items popular with kids and have increased accidental THC consumption in children. Since January 2021, the National Poison Control Centers have received 10,448 single substance exposure cases involving only edible products containing THC. Of these cases, 77 percent involved people 19 and younger.

“Copycat THC sellers are taking advantage of well-known brands to put our kids at risk,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “They’re playing fast and loose with people’s safety to make an extra buck. I hope Congress acts quickly so companies can use legal measures to hold copycats accountable and we can keep young people safe.”

THC copycat products are widely available and easily mistaken for name brand snacks such as Oreo cookies, Doritos chips, Cheetos, NERDs, and more. They often are unintentionally given to children or mistaken by children for the brand name snack products. As a result, unsuspecting children end up ingesting large amounts of THC.

In their letter, the Attorneys General urged Congress to immediately enact legislation authorizing trademark holders of well-known and trusted consumer packaged goods to hold accountable malicious actors who are marketing illicit copycat THC edibles to children.

Attorney General Stein was joined in sending this letter by the Attorneys General of Virginia, Nevada, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Utah, and Washington.

Read the letter here.

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