PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office is sounding the alarm after two people who ate over-the-counter THC gummies, purchased from area tobacco stores, needed to be treated for a fentanyl overdose.
The gummies were sold under the brand name Strictly Delta, specifically the Delta 8 THC 600mg Happy Cubes in various flavors.
Officials said two people overdosed after ingesting the gummies and both needed treatment. Neither dose was fatal.
The gummies are sold at three Tobacco Hut stores in Whitpain, Hatfield and Montgomery townships. After the overdoses, undercover detectives bought the products and tested them for illegal drugs.
“We've got fentanyl, we've got heroin, we have meth extracts, we have cocaine extracts — this is in these items, that people could walk into one of these tobacco stores and buy,” said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele.
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Testing also found fentanyl in other brands: Urb Extract and Packwood Cones.
The investigation is in the early stages and there are still a lot of unanswered questions, including if the gummies were produced this way or if the packages were tampered with.
Steele called the situation a “public safety nightmare.”
“If anyone has any of these gummies, do not eat them! We need to get the word out that some of these packages contain deadly drugs — fentanyl and heroin,” he urged in a statement. “We don’t yet know whether other items from the stores contain deadly drugs. Testing is ongoing. We also don’t know if this is a widespread issue but we are working with law enforcement at the local, state and federal levels to ascertain that.”
Anyone who bought these products in Montgomery County and still has them can call the Montgomery County Detective Bureau at 610-278-3368 or their local police department to turn them in for testing.
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Delta-8 THC products are sold over the counter at many locations. A medical marijuana card is not needed for purchase.
Delta-8 THC, which has the same effects as marijuana, is considered legal at the federal level because it is derived from the hemp plant.
The FDA lists several concerns about delta-8 THC products, including a lack of oversight, questionable labeling practices, and the use of potentially harmful chemicals to create concentrations of THC.