MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. – 46 businesses have been charged with the illegal sale of THC products in various retail establishments across Montgomery County, attorneys say.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele announced the charges on Wednesday afternoon during a scheduled press conference.
Steele says the charges follow a countywide investigation into retail stores within 26 townships throughout Montgomery County. The investigation was part of an initiative to address a wave of unregulated and unsafe products often found at smoke shops, convenience stores, and gas stations.
As part of the investigation, Montgomery County Detectives say they conducted public purchases of illegal THC products.
Detectives say they observed and purchased products that were labelled as containing THC, including gummies, beverages, vape cartridges and other consumable products. Some of these products indicate they contain over 1,000mg of THC in a single gummy.
Previously, in October 2025, the DA’s Office released a grand jury report in which smoke shops throughout Montgomery County were found to be selling illegal THC products.
After the report, the DA’s Office says it issued notices to numerous businesses, advising them that unlawful THC products must be removed from the stores. The notice warned that continued sales of these products could result in criminal prosecution.
“The detectives went to these shops. They took letters to the owners of the shops,” said Steele. “We made it clear that businesses choosing to continue selling these illegal products could face criminal prosecution.”
But Steele said, for 46 of those businesses, the message wasn’t received.
“Many of these businesses continue to openly sell illegal, intoxicating products,” the DA said.
Though these charges only involve the sale of THC products, the DA’s office says the operation is part of a greater effort to address the growing prevalence of unregulated and potentially abusive substances they are finding at these types of retail establishments.
“Businesses do not get to ignore the laws of this Commonwealth merely because there is profit to be made. Too many smoke shops and gas stations have become distributors of wholly unregulated, dangerous, and, in this case, illegal products,” said Steele.
“Until the legislature acts on this issue, law enforcement has an obligation to prosecute the general sale of THC,” the DA added.
“Our enforcement actions are taken to protect Montgomery County youth and the general public from the unscrupulous sales of illegal substances in the businesses,” he said.
Just based on how the products are packaged, Steele is worried they look just like Halloween candy to kids.
“A kid sees a gummy. They’re not thinking that a gummy is going to contain large amounts of intoxicating substances in them, and then they eat the gummy and things happen,” said Steele.
The DA wants to prevent those things, but he also doesn’t want to put stores out of business. He said they can avoid serious consequences if they just clear those products off the shelves.
“We’re providing another opportunity for people to do the right thing,” said Steele. “Here’s your second shot at this to do the right thing. The third one isn’t going to go well for people.”
Steele said, right now, they’re only prosecuting the business entities selling the products, but if stores don’t take those products off the shelves, he said the next step would be charges against the individual owner and physically seizing the products from the store.
Authorities say each of the 46 businesses has been charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, which is an ungraded felony.
Preliminary hearings for all of the defendants have been scheduled for Nov. 9, 2026.