EUREKA, Mo. — This week, Today in St. Louis is digging into the psychoactive hemp product, Delta-8, and the push from many to get it regulated.
Police chiefs across Missouri described Delta-8 as "dangerous." The intoxicating substance is extracted from hemp and mixed with chemicals to create a high.
It's currently legal and unregulated in Missouri and Illinois, and it's putting kids in the hospital.
Missouri police chiefs, including Eureka Police Chief Michael Wiegand, are continuing to push for Delta-8 regulations, as the problem continues to grow.
"This is truly an important issue that we need to bring to the attention of all our parents. This is a danger to our children, and to the safety of our communities, so we want to make sure that everybody gets the word," he said.
Wiegand has been with the Eureka Police Department for over 40 years, but despite all that time in uniform, his officers recently ran into something new.
"We're going, 'Wow, we've never seen this before.' Us, we've never seen this before because it's really not on our radar. We need to do something about this," he said.
Wiegand's officers saw something suspicious at a local garage sale last spring that mimicked marijuana but was actually Delta-8.
"When the state of Missouri passed legalization of marijuana, everything has to go through certain channels, these products are not, so we're unregulated, untested, unknowing of what's inside each package," he said.
Many packages containing Delta-8 look identical to popular candies and snacks and, Wiegand said, they're being sold at local gas stations.
"It's deceptive advertising, in our opinion. This is not good for our kids, not good for our nation. Let's get it changed," he said.
Change is exactly what Wiegand and other police chiefs are pushing for after 10 St. Louis high schoolers got high from the product and four were hospitalized.
"Some states have strict regulations on keeping it 21 and above," he said. "Missouri does not at this time. We want to make sure that we raise the age of this product to 21 and take it off the shelves of all the convenience stores. Unless you put it behind the counter, you're 21, fine. Go to a dispensary and buy it where it's regulated, fine. Those are legal avenues you can do in the state of Missouri, but we want to keep it out of the hands of our kids."
A group made of Missouri police chiefs called the Law Enforcement Legislative Coalition spent the last legislative session working to raise the age of those who can buy Delta-8 to 21 and over and getting it off convenience store shelves.
Wiegand said the bills didn't pass, but they'll be back at the capital this next session to continue their fight.
"We want everyone to have freedom, this is something that's a little outside the realm of that," he said.
As a grandfather and father, Wiegand worries about kids getting their hands on this product.
"It's terrifying, it really is. I worry every day about the safety of our kids in our community," he said.
That's why Wiegand just wants parents to be on high alert.
"Unfortunately, it's a problem, and it's a problem that parents really aren't aware of," he said. "Parents just need to be aware. They really need to be aware of what their kids are bringing to the counter, and what they're grabbing for their kids because they too can grab the wrong product, if it's out there on display, easily accessible to our children."
This is also a problem in Illinois, which is why a similar bill that aimed at regulating Delta-8 was brought to lawmakers' attention last legislative session. Just like in Missouri, the bill didn't pass.
Wiegand said this is a nationwide issue and that's why recently it caught the attention of federal authorities. Less than two weeks ago, the FDA and FTC sent warning letters to five companies for illegally selling copycat food products containing Delta-8.