Walk into the wrong gas station in Georgia and you will find bright, candy-colored gummies and vapes with names designed to attract children. These are products that exist in a legal gray area, with enforcement described as inconsistent and unpredictable. That is not a failure of Georgia lawmakers or the officers that enforce the law. It is a reflection of just how hard it is for any state to police a product that travels freely across state lines, manufactured under federal rules that created an enormous, dangerous loophole.
Since 2018, Georgia has been flooded with headlines that tell the same story in different towns – kids are getting sick from eating a “hemp” product they thought would get them a “little” high but instead forced them to seek medical assistance. Georgia’s Poison Center reported a 66 percent increase in calls about hemp products in children, including kids ending up in the ER after unknowingly eating products packaged to look like candy. Gwinnett County had to fight all the way to the state Supreme Court just to resume enforcement. And as recently as last year, a 15-year-old in Loganville ordered a THC vape online, no ID required, from a company with a revoked business license operating illegally across more than two dozen states.
The products at the center of these headlines are not discreet. “Cannaburst” instead of Starburst, “Stoney Patch” instead of Sour Patch, Delta-8 gummies styled to look like Nerds Rope, knockoff bags nearly identical to Doritos, Skittles, and Gushers. The FDA and FTC have sent cease-and-desist letters to companies selling THC products in packaging that mimic these exact brand-name snacks. A child reaching into a gas station display has virtually no way to tell the difference. Even worse, these gas-station products often have 5-10x more intoxicating properties than your standard marijuana product.
Georgia has done more than most states to protect its residents. The legislature passed, and Governor Brian Kemp signed into law, a bill imposing a 21-and-older age requirement, potency limits, mandatory testing, and child-resistant packaging rules for consumable hemp products. Kemp himself said “consumable hemp products are dangerous to minors and unregulated hemp products are a danger to all Georgians.” Attorney General Chris Carr went further, joining a bipartisan coalition of 39 attorneys general urging Congress to permanently close the federal loophole that allowed synthetic THC products into the marketplace.
Georgia’s leaders got this right. Now, Congress needs to hold the line and do their part.
The problem began with the 2018 federal Farm Bill, whose definition of “hemp” focused only on delta-9 THC content, leaving the door wide open for manufacturers to produce federally legal delta-8, delta-10, and a growing number of other synthetic cannabinoids. The consequences are real. A peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Medical Toxicology found that reported delta-8 THC exposures to poison centers across the country increased by nearly 80 percent in just two years, with the U.S. South accounting for more than two-thirds of those exposures. Children represented more than half of all cases, with nearly one in three involving a child younger than six. About 90 percent of children twelve and under who were exposed ended up in the emergency room, with two-thirds requiring hospitalization.
Georgia moved faster than most. SB 494 banned hemp flower from retail sale, applied a “total THC” standard that closed the THCA loophole within the state, set serving size limits on gummies, and made selling these products to anyone under 21 a misdemeanor. By 2026, Georgia is one of the strictest states in the country on intoxicating hemp.
Georgia’s leaders were correct when they told Congress that state-level regulation alone is not enough. Products manufactured in states with weaker rules, or no regulations at all, flow freely across state lines. The attorneys general coalition argued that these products “cannot be effectively regulated at the state level due to interstate commerce.” In Georgia, smoke shops still carry intoxicating hemp-derived products and online retailers still ship THC-A into the state, regardless of SB 494’s ban on hemp flower. That is why the federal fix matters so much.
Congress passed a critical amendment in November 2025 that aligned federal law with Georgia’s stricter standard, capping total THC content and effectively closing the Farm Bill loophole. Enforcement takes effect in November 2026. This is real progress, but it is in danger. Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina introduced legislation that would reopen the loophole Congress just closed. If that effort succeeds, the intoxicating products that Georgia restricted will have a new federal green light that overrides what state lawmakers spent years building.
This is not a partisan issue. Georgia’s Republican governor signed SB 494, Georgia’s Republican attorney general joined a bipartisan coalition of 39 AGs, and Congress passed the federal fix with bipartisan support. Protecting children from unlabeled, unregulated intoxicants is not a difficult vote.
Georgia did its part, Congress needs to do the same. The loophole must stay closed.
Jason M. Shepherd is an attorney specializing in healthcare regulatory law and Part Time Assistant Professor of Political Science at Kennesaw State University School of Government and Internal Affairs. He serves on the GA Access to Medical Cannabis Commission.
