It’s not often that Congress gets a review or can correct the unintended consequences of the laws they pass. As a former Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, I saw firsthand the exploitation of legal loopholes – by both American entities and our adversaries – and their impact on the American people. That impact can largely be classified as a threat to public safety or a threat to national security, and in many cases both.
Today we see such effects occurring with the highly potent drugs made with hemp-derived tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) flooding the market with largely unregulated distribution to America’s youth.
In 2018, Congress attempted to create a legal market for hemp products. The intention was to legalize the sale of benign items such as rope, textiles and cannabidiol (CBD) products that do not have an intoxicating effect but are used to treat stress and pain. Hemp contains the CBD needed to make these products, but only small amounts of intoxicating THC. At the time, there was no fear that a lucrative illegal market would soon develop. But that did happen.
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Now, synthetically enhanced THC products that get adults high and have more harmful effects on children have exploded nationwide without consistent age restrictions, labeling standards or safety requirements and are often packaged as gummies, candies and drinks. The results are disturbing.
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Just as alarming as the public safety problems are the implications for national security. As much as 70 percent of the world’s hemp production comes from China, which has a documented history of exporting dangerous drugs and their precursors into American communities, from fentanyl to synthetic opioids. Intoxicating THC hemp products are illegal in China, but they have no qualms about dumping them in our neighborhoods. For example, the Maine Wire reported last year that a “major Chinese chemical exporter is conspiring to circumvent U.S. tariff and trade policies to get synthetic THC analogs into the U.S. recreational drug market.” We shouldn’t create a market for products that they don’t even want to sell to their own people.
Experts have warned for years about the supply chain, public safety and national security risks posed by Chinese-made products – including pharmaceuticals, electronic components and rare earth minerals. Unfortunately, not enough attention has been paid to other imported products that are harming the American people.
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Last year, Congress and President Trump acted wisely to address this threat, but some want to reopen this federal loophole, putting Americans’ health at serious risk. Doing so would flood the US market with potentially dangerous hemp THC products.
Now is not the time to change course.
This is why a bipartisan group of 39 attorneys general signed a letter calling for the THC hemp loophole to be closed. The threats to national security and public health are simply too great to ignore.
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Congress acted with support from the White House last fall when lawmakers passed legislation to more closely regulate THC hemp products and align them with the original intent of the legislation. But with implementation scheduled for November 2026, some are trying to delay or nullify these protections. Such a move would undermine both public safety and national security priorities.
Many U.S. law enforcement, public health officials and national security professionals believe these products do not fit on store shelves. Congress must stand firm and ensure the restrictions go into effect in November.
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