Name: District Attorneys reveal report on unregulated smoke shops
Uploaded: 2025-10-31T02:09:27.456Z
Duration: 3 min 8 s
Description: District Attorneys from Montgomery, Bucks and Chester counties are urging swift legislative action following a grand jury report on unregulated smoke shops in Pennsylvania.

District Attorneys from Montgomery, Bucks and Chester counties are urging swift legislative action following a grand jury report on unregulated smoke shops in Pennsylvania.

Montgomery

District attorneys from Montgomery, Bucks, and Chester counties in Pennsylvania, alongside state police, have unveiled a grand jury report following a 10-month investigation into local smoke shops. The report found that most smoke shops are unregulated, with many selling illegal products containing THC levels far above the legal limit, and highlighted the lack of age restrictions for purchasing these products.

The report includes recommendations for stricter regulations, such as setting a minimum purchase age of 21 for THC products and mandatory product safety testing. The district attorneys are urging the state legislature to act on these recommendations, noting that a related bill has advanced in the Senate Judiciary but further legislative review is needed.

District Attorneys reveal report on unregulated smoke shops

A group of local district attorneys putting area smoke shops on blast. Today they revealed the findings of a 10-month investigation involving state police and expert medical testimony that found smoke shops are largely unregulated and the majority are unsafe and selling illegal products. Kelly, you were there for the announcement today. What else did you learn? Well, Sheba, that grand jury report also detailed eight key recommendations on how these businesses can continue to operate, but safely and legally, and several DAs said today they are calling on the state legislature to help them with that. Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele joined by the Bucks and Chester County DAs and state police to reveal a more than 100-page grand jury report on local smoke shops, which they say are unregulated and growing. Currently, there are more than 240 in Montgomery County alone. There are some responsible stores out there, let me say that. And some of them came forward and testified in this report. But unfortunately, the majority of what we looked at needed to have a spotlight. DA Steele says the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which was meant to help farmers grow hemp, is now being used as a loophole, and they're calling on state legislature to fix that. The report doesn't name any shops, but says detectives tested 144 products from numerous stores and found 135 of them had THC levels of 5% and higher. The legal limit is 0.3%. People are hiding behind that and saying that this is Farm Bill compliant, you know, on things. No, it's not. The results make it clear that these smoke shops are acting as our neighborhood marijuana dealers. A manager at Red Lion Vape and Smoke Shop in Norristown, who led us in the store, says they follow all state laws. A month ago, he says investigators flagged a product they sold in the store and they took it off the shelves. While some stores we went to require an ID or 21 to enter, investigators say there are no state laws or restrictions on selling the products to any age. And some are branded to look like typical food and candy. The report includes a case in December 2024, where a 14-year-old purchased this crisp rice treat and had to be hospitalized. Our children can go into these shops and literally purchase and ingest an illegal substance with grave consequences. We seized over half a million dollars collectively from these various different smoke shops. The DA said more arrests are coming. Among the recommendations, they are calling on an age requirement of 21 to purchase THC products and testing to ensure product safety. We're telling you your product is bad and we're going to keep buying. So if you sell it, we're going to test it, you're on notice, plan on getting arrested. And DA Steele did say today a bill regarding regulation of smoke shops did make it out of the Senate Judiciary, which is promising, but again, they are calling on all legislators to closely review this report. Kelly Rule there in Norristown, thank you very much.

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