Mississippi hearing spotlights public-health risks of intoxicating hemp; stakeholders push testing, age limits and beverage caps

The Public Health and Welfare committee heard two hours of testimony on the public‑health implications of intoxicating hemp products, with state health officials and researchers urging rules to require product testing, eliminate synthetic cannabinoids and restrict sales to adults.

Dr. Robert Welch of the National Center for Cannabis Research at the University of Mississippi told the committee that many retail hemp products sold across the state are variable, sometimes adulterated and occasionally highly intoxicating. “Just because industrial hemp is legal doesn't mean it can be put into food or called medicine,” he quoted former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, and he described testing his team and law enforcement carried out: of 25 retail CBD products seized and analyzed, 22 had measurable CBD, concentrations ranged from 0.02 milligrams to 786 milligrams, only three matched label claims within 20 percent, three exceeded the 0.3 percent delta‑9 THC threshold and one sample measured about 45 percent THC. He also said four products were adulterated with synthetic cannabinoids and that many delta‑8 and related products are synthesized rather than plant‑derived.

State Health Officer Dr. Edney told the committee…