Marijuana and hemp products should be regulated. As you know, there are many potential negative consequences of these products. Negative consequences can be unintentional, short and/or long term, and can relate to health, safety, academics, work, finances, social, emotional, psychiatric, and medical issues. For more specifics, please see the September, 2021 CDC HEALTH ALERT NETWORK (HAN) publication that warns of the relationship between increases in availability of cannabis products and reported cases of adverse events. Please also note a national study in the journal Pediatrics, which compared the 200 reported cases of accidental consumption of cannabis edibles by children under six in 2017 to the 3,054 reported cases in 2021– an increase of 1,375%. Clear warnings, labeling in large font, non-enticing/confusing product names, and tamper proof containers are essential in helping to prevent use by children. An additional concern is the similarity of marijuana (delta 9 THC) and hemp (delta 8 THC) in terms of their essential chemicals; carbons, hydrogens, and oxygens. The structure/arrangement and potency of those chemicals varies. Consequently, the cultivation, processing, identification, labeling, and enforcement of these products is challenging. For all the above reasons, tetrahydrocannabinol should not be removed from the Schedule I list of controlled substances although the Board of Pharmacy should be involved in all related policies, oversight, etc. I support SB 903 and appreciate your forethought in trying to protect Virginians. I appreciate your concern for the safety of all citizens, especially children and youth.

Let's keep our kids and Virginia's roads safe! Ban Delta 8 THC and help prevent harm to Virginia's youth and adults wile making roads, schools, and work environments safer. Thank you.

I support SB903. Anything you can do to make these products more safe is appreciated! I pray that the enforcement of sales to kids under age 21 can be rigorously enforced as that is where addiction problems begin!

I SUPPORT this bill. It may not go far enough, but such legislation is long overdue. There is real danger here, especially to young people (I know firsthand), and regulations and disincentives are very much needed,

I support labeling of products and restricted sales containing any synthetic THC. There are too many products that look confusingly like normal snack products. I know people whose children have been harmed by ingesting what they thought was a familiar snack product. I know others whose older children ingest these products knowingly. However, they should not be. These are kids under 18. The products are affecting their health and well-being. Just as we restrict access to alcohol, we should restrict access to THC----including synthetic versions of THC.

I support SB 903 because it provides many safety measures to help to reduce accidental overdoses in people of all ages, especially children. Although you are probably aware that cannabis induced hospital visits are on the rise, unless you have read the following article: https://www.acsh.org/news/2023/01/18/marijuana-and-kids-dont-mix-interview-dr-roneet-lev-16824, you may not know that 15% of children that arrive at a hospital for cannabis overdoses are admitted to the ICU, and that 4% require a ventilator. We need to do everything that we can to reduce the risks to childrens' lives than this unneccessary burden on our already overtaxed health care system.

We need more testing, labeling, and child-proof packaging as well as regulation so that under age children cannot walk into a convenience store and purchase Delta-8, especially. Thank you, Bonnie J. Redding