There’s a potent drug available in gas stations and some grocery stores in Wisconsin, often displayed right next to the candy bars and packs of gum. It’s unregulated, often more potent than marijuana and oftentimes nefariously packaged to look similar to common brands of candy.
Regardless of how you feel about the push to legalize marijuana in Wisconsin, the rise of delta-8 products is alarming, especially when very young kids have such ready access.
Click the link, read the article and share this with any parents of young kids who may have no idea just how widely available this stuff is.
Marijuana is illegal in Wisconsin, but its chemical cousin is already here — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
An investigation by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Examination and AL.com found that these chemical cousins to marijuana — with names like delta-8, HHC and THCH — are causing a sharp rise in reports of children and adults getting sick, alarming doctors and public health researchers.
But as other states crack down on this fast-emerging, unregulated breed of cannabis product, there is no evidence of urgency in Madison. The same lawmakers who could not even agree on a highly restrictive medical marijuana proposal earlier this year have made no moves to rein in an essentially identical product…
There is no minimum age to buy the products here. Some shops require buyers to be 21. For others, it is 18.
There are no special taxes on these products, as there are on cigarettes or alcohol — or in some states, legal marijuana. The new intoxicants are taxed like a pack of gum.
In March, a bipartisan group of attorneys general from 21 states wrote to Congress urging action, saying the Farm Bill has unleashed “a flood of products that are nothing less than a more potent form of cannabis … with staggering levels of potency, no regulation, no oversight and a limited capability for our offices to rein them in.”
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul did not sign the letter. His office did not respond to requests from the Journal Sentinel for interviews on his position on the new products.
As the wildcat industry has flourished, Wood County in north central Wisconsin, population 74,000, was the first local government in the state to act, setting an age limit of 21 two years ago.
In 2022, the local health department learned that delta-8 and similar products were being sold next to candy in gas stations. Volunteer investigators found a Nerds candy rope had been removed from its original packaging, sprayed with delta-8, returned to the original package, and labeled as having delta-8…U.S. poison control centers logged more than 8,000 calls related to delta-8 and similar products from 2021 to 2023. Close to one-third involved children younger than six.
Here’s a bit of good news.
Wisconsin could be back in Camp Randall earlier than expected | Badgerswire
The 2024 college football season is still a few months away and the Wisconsin Badgers will once again will be playing in Camp Randall, their home for football since 1917.
Camp Randall has been undergoing some renovations this offseason, making the playing surface heated. The heated surface will allow the Badgers to host games at the stadium more easily in the cold months of winter, potentially in the College Football Playoff.
As the team has gone through their spring practices over the last few weeks, Camp Randall has been unavailable. But they did get good news Saturday — the stadium is reportedly ahead of schedule and the team could be back playing in it by July.
A final thought. Today is Earth Day.
As others preen and pose over who cares more about the environment, we take today to thank not the environmental activists, but rather the active environmentalists. The farmers, ranchers, loggers and miners who work the land and understand that if you take care of the land, the land will take care of you.
Our health and quality of life, and therefore the planet is better because of their hard work.
That doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker, but it is true nonetheless.
For them, every day is Earth Day.
