The Oak Park Board of Health recommended the village board pass an ordinance banning the sale of unregulated THC, the compound that gives marijuana its “high.” But trustees indicated they are leaning toward regulating sales, rather than banning them.
Unregulated THC is sold in Oak Park, usually in the form of delta-8, according to the recommendation from the Board of Health. Delta-9, a different form, is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, requiring concentrations to be properly labeled for sale and can only be sold to those age 21 and up. The village board was not considering banning the sale of delta-9.
Delta-8, however, is not regulated. It can cause adverse health effects and is often marketed to children, for whom it can be especially dangerous. Many delta-8 products are marketed as snacks or candy and there are no age restrictions to buy it in Oak Park.
Kitty Monty, an Oak Park public health nurse, explained that delta-8 has not been studied enough to know what concentration would be dangerous. To produce a “high,” delta-8 has to be synthesized. This process can produce harmful chemicals as byproducts, such as carcinogens.
“We decided on the recommendation of a ban because in this case, we don’t know what’s in these products,” said Christina Welter, chair of the Board of Health. “We felt that was safest … There’s not research really understanding the impact of the synthesized drug on your body, much less what it’s being combined with.”
But the majority of the village board said Tuesday they’d prefer to regulate rather than ban the products, citing worries about enforcement and mixed messaging among their reasons.
State and federal regulations
The FDA has not evaluated unregulated THC products. But between Dec. 1, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2022, the FDA received 104 reports across the nation of adverse events involving delta-8, according to the Board of Health’s report. This included hallucinations, vomiting, tremors, anxiety, dizziness, confusion and loss of consciousness, Monty said.
National poison control centers received 2,362 exposure cases of delta-8 between Jan. 1, 2021, and Feb. 28, 2022. One child died.
Welter said the FDA is working on the federal and state level to address concerns. The Illinois General Assembly debated banning unregulated THC in spring 2024, she said, but no bill was passed. However, some Illinois municipalities have locally regulated or banned it, such as Elk Grove Village.
In Illinois, dispensaries have strict advertising rules to discourage underage use or overconsumption. And the products they sell are regulated.
Delta-8 products, on the other hand, are often marketed to children, not sold at dispensaries and are not regulated. The products are not required to be childproof, either. They can be easily purchased at convenience stores, gas stations or even online. It’s also possible someone could buy a product, thinking it’s a regular snack, and have an unexpected reaction.
Due to the lack of regulation, consumers may have no idea what the concentration of delta-8 is in products. It could be two milligrams, but it could also be 200 milligrams, or 500 milligrams, Monty explained. There’s no labeling required, so the consumer might not know.
“We want the entire population to be safe,” she said. “An adult can take it thinking there’s just a little bit of delta-8, or they might not even know what delta-8 is, and then consume that and have those psychoactive effects that they weren’t expecting.”
Local concerns
Oak Park partners and community members, such as the Oak Park Township, the Oak Park Opioid Prevention Taskforce, District 200, school nurses, teachers and parents are also concerned about the sale of delta-8 and supportive of banning the sale, Welter said. The Illinois State Police explained the dangers of unregulated THC to the Oak Park Health Department in fall 2023, and later with the Board of Health.
Despite community support for banning the sale, the majority of trustees Tuesday said they felt regulating would be a better step.
Trustee Cory Wesley said products like alcohol, cigarettes and tobacco can be harmful, and can even cause death, but those haven’t been banned. He also said he thinks it sends a mixed signal to legalize weed but ban the sale of unregulated THC.
Welter countered that public health restrictions when a product is unknown and potentially dangerous are not comparable to banning FDA-regulated products like alcohol. It’s not about taking away adults’ right to do something, but about allowing time for further study.
But Wesley disagreed. He also pointed out that even if the sale is banned in Oak Park, anyone who wants could easily buy delta-8 products from nearby stores in other municipalities that do sell them.
Trustees Lucia Robinson, Brian Straw, Chibuike Enyia and Ravi Parakkat also indicated they’d likely support regulation over banning. That could look like limiting sales to those over age 21, requiring retailers to be licensed to sell delta-8 products, putting a tax on these items or fines for noncompliance.
Trustees also wondered how a ban would be enforced. Without enforcement, a ban is useless, Robinson said. Emily Egan, the village’s development services director, said village business license officers would do routine inspections and work with the police department to enforce a ban, if one were passed.
“The purpose of being a home rule municipality is to create local solutions for local problems,” Robinson said, and that she doesn’t want to contradict state efforts. “This is a problem that extends beyond our borders.”
Trustee Susan Buchanan, however, appeared to be the only trustee who agreed with the Board of Health’s recommendation to ban the sale.
“I’m sure that people that are buying these assume that it’s been tested for harm and that there’s some knowledge about the dosage or the amount,” she said.
Buchanan added that this is a different issue than marijuana legalization because companies are marketing delta-8 products to fool people into thinking they’re eating something safe. Even if only adults can buy a delta-8 product, they could still end up in the hospital because of unexpected effects due to the lack of labeling and concentration regulations, she pointed out.
The Board of Health and the village board did agree that any regulation efforts should be related to the sale, and not the possession of unregulated THC products like delta-8.
“I don’t want cops pulling over kids because they see a kid with a bag of Doritos and think it might be delta-8 Doritos,” Wesley said.
The discussion will come back to the board before any regulation can be implemented.