{"id":216665,"date":"2026-06-11T18:16:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T18:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/216665\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T18:16:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T18:16:14","slug":"senate-bill-49-fails-to-advance-in-the-senate-leaves-kids-at-risk-with-dangerous-hemp-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/216665\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Bill 49 fails to advance in the Senate, leaves kids at risk with dangerous hemp products"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Laughlin\"<\/a>PA State Senator Dan Laughlin (R-Erie), Sept. 23, 2021. Photo by Joel Natalie, TalkErie.com.<\/p>\n

The Senate today failed to advance\u00a0Senate Bill 49<\/a>, legislation sponsored by\u00a0Sen. Dan Laughlin (R-49)<\/a>\u00a0to protect children and consumers from unregulated intoxicating hemp products and establish a dedicated Cannabis Control Board to oversee the commonwealth\u2019s medical marijuana program.<\/p>\n

Laughlin said the development represents a missed opportunity to address a growing public safety concern involving intoxicating THC products that are widely available in gas stations, smoke shops, convenience stores and online marketplaces with little to no oversight.<\/p>\n

\u201cAcross Pennsylvania, intoxicating hemp products are being sold with virtually no safeguards \u2014 no testing standards, no meaningful labeling requirements and no reliable age verification,\u201d Laughlin said. \u201cWe have seen children hospitalized and students requiring emergency medical attention after consuming these products. That reality should have been enough to bring us together on this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 49 would have aligned Pennsylvania law with federal standards by prohibiting intoxicating hemp products containing more than 0.3% Delta-9 THC by dry weight or more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. The legislation also would have banned synthetic cannabinoids and provided clearer enforcement tools for law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n

In addition, the bill proposed transferring oversight of Pennsylvania\u2019s Medical Marijuana Program from the Department of Health to a newly created Cannabis Control Board designed to provide consistent regulation, improved transparency and specialized expertise.<\/p>\n

Laughlin expressed disappointment the Senate did not act to close what he described as a dangerous regulatory gap.<\/p>\n

\u201cPennsylvania is choosing to leave intoxicating \u2018gas station weed\u2019 completely unregulated,\u201d Laughlin said. \u201cThat means no testing, no oversight, no age checks and no real accountability. It preserves a system where these products can be marketed like candy and sold wherever a transaction can take place.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that failure to act leaves parents, schools, and law enforcement without the tools they need to address an escalating public health issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome will call this a political issue, but it isn\u2019t \u2014 it\u2019s a public safety issue,\u201d Laughlin said. \u201cIf we are willing to accept a marketplace where children can easily access intoxicating THC products with no safeguards, then we are making a decision about our priorities. I believe our children should come first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the outcome, Laughlin said he intends to continue pushing for stronger regulations to protect Pennsylvania families.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will not stop working to bring order and accountability to this space,\u201d Laughlin said. \u201cProtecting children and ensuring consumer safety is not optional \u2014 it is our responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PA State Senator Dan Laughlin (R-Erie), Sept. 23, 2021. Photo by Joel Natalie, TalkErie.com. The Senate today failed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-216665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}