Supervisors Support Age Restriction For THC Derivatives

Neon signage at a smoke shop in Riverwest. Photo by Sophie Bolich.

Milwaukee County Supervisors are backing the city’s plan to crack down on businesses selling synthetic THC to children.

In July, the City of Milwaukee passed an ordinance restricting sale of hemp-derived THC to anyone under the age of 21. Sup. Jack Eckblad went to the county board’s Intergovernmental Relations Committee Friday asking his colleagues to pass a resolution urging every municipality in the county to follow suit.

The county doesn’t have any mechanism to regulate the sale of THC derivatives like delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC and THCP. The substances were effectively legalized through the 2018 federal farm bill, as Urban Milwaukee has previously reported.

The products are unregulated and the Milwaukee Police Department has found it has no legal authority to enforce even an age restriction on their sale. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has, so far, not stepped in to regulate.

“There is a gap in regulation of these products at every level of government,” Eckblad said.

The products have become a health risk for children. Many of the edible products are marketed like regular candy. In 2023, two Milwaukee children were hospitalized after eating THC gummies their guardian mistook for candy. The FDA has collected data in the past showing nearly half of the calls to poison control centers for exposure to delta-8 THC products have involved persons under 18.

The incident in Milwaukee prompted Common Council members Peter Burgelis and JoCasta Zamarripa to sponsor the ordinance setting an age restriction.

Under the new ordinance, any business caught selling THC derivatives to someone younger than 21 will face fines as high as $1,000.

“There is a responsible way to go about this, right?” Eckblad said. “I don’t think anyone in this room needs to be told that we don’t need more children in jail.”

The supervisor said the city ordinance does that, by going after the business owner not the person purchasing the product.

“This is about protecting children, not criminalizing something else,” he said.

The committee unanimously passed the resolution, which includes direction for the county clerk to send the resolution to every municipality in the county. The full county board will vote on the item later this month.

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