“Our children should never be the testing ground for an industry willing to exploit a loophole in federal law for profit.”
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ted Budd (R-N.C.) today delivered remarks on the Senate floor calling for his Senate Colleagues to join his effort to permanently close the dangerous “hemp loophole” that has allowed the intoxicating hemp industry to sell unregulated hemp-derived products that have been marketed to American children.
Watch Senator Budd’s remarks below:
Read Senator Budd’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, below:
Mister President,
Every parent in America wants the same thing: to know their child is safe.
As United States Senators, each of us has a responsibility to the millions of parents we represent to put the safety and welfare of American children first.
That is exactly why, just nine months ago, 76 members of this body voted to close the hemp loophole that allowed these dangerous substances to be sold in unregulated retail stores.
But since last November, the intoxicating hemp industry has attempted to delay our effort to close this dangerous loophole.
These companies want to continue selling intoxicating THC substances, loosely labeled as “hemp” products, on the shelves of local convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores nationwide.
And the problem does not stop there. The packaging is unmistakably designed to appeal to children, using bright colors and intentionally mimicking popular snack food and candy brands.
But what is most concerning is how easy it is for a child to walk into a convenience store and pick up what looks like their favorite snack or candy—without realizing they’re actually buying an intoxicating substance.
It is difficult enough for an adult to distinguish the minor difference between these name-brand products and intoxicating substances on the shelves. Just look at these examples.
Are you telling me this isn’t intentional? The four basic principles of marketing are: product, price, place, and promotion. And what we’re looking at right here is a crash course in all four—how to package a product, how to make it appealing, how to put it in front of consumers, and how to promote it while attempting to evade federal law.
This isn’t some innocent coincidence. You don’t accidentally create packaging for an intoxicating substance that bears an eerie resemblance to a recognizable brand. You don’t accidentally make an intoxicating product look like something a child would recognize from the grocery store shelf, without reasonable intent. This is marketing by design, and it is designed to evade the law.
The resemblance here is outrageous—and it is putting our kids at risk, every single day. And over the past few years, we have already seen the horrifying consequences play out in emergency rooms across the country.
From 2018 to 2023, emergency departments in the United States that responded to pediatric cannabis poisoning increased by 461 percent. 91 percent of those patients were 4 years of age or younger, and 45 percent of those children, ages 0-11, were hospitalized.
These numbers are not just statistics. They represent children ending up in emergency rooms. Why? All because the intoxicating hemp industry wants to make a cheap dollar.
In my home state of North Carolina, cannabis consumption-coded emergency department visits among minors increased by 969 percent between 2017 and 2025.
That is nothing short of alarming.
THC can have very serious consequences for adults. It can trigger psychosis, addiction, manic episodes, bipolar relapse, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Having assessed those risks, it makes it utterly irresponsible to then turn around and put those same THC substances within reach of our children.
It is impacting our workforce too. Able-bodied adults are unable to hold jobs that require them to take a drug test. Stores near military bases sell these products to men and women in our armed services—making them ineligible for service. That is also no accident.
Mister President, I cannot tell you how many times I have sat down with a family in my office that has tragically lost their son or daughter because they became addicted to these disguised substances. It is heartbreaking to witness.
There are young people who are no longer walking this earth—who will never graduate, never go to college, never start a career, never get married, never have children, and never get the chance to experience the life that was ahead of them because these dangerous substances robbed them of that future.
I am appalled by the well-oiled, slick lobbying machine—which is very well connected in this town—that has chosen to wage this surreptitious war against our efforts to protect American children.
So let me be clear to my colleagues: I will not back down. I will not waver. And I will not stop until this life-threatening loophole is closed permanently.
We are going to have this fight before the end of this Congress, and I can assure you that I am not going to stop fighting to protect America’s children.
I have already had numerous conversations with the White House about this issue, and I am willing to have a larger conversation about marijuana. But I want to make sure one thing is perfectly clear—making THC intoxicating substances readily accessible to our kids is an entirely different issue from the medical marijuana movement.
Today, we are talking about unregulated hemp-derived products being sold on the shelves of nearly every corner store in America. These intoxicating substances are hiding in plain sight—and they are putting our kids at risk.
Parents should never have to fear that sending their child into a convenience store for a snack or a treat could mean that child walks out with a product that can get them high.
That is not too much to ask. It is common sense.
And it is our responsibility to make sure the millions of parents we each represent can trust that the products sitting on store shelves are safe for their children.
I’m not here to obstruct the Senate for the sake of obstruction.
I’m here because I have a duty to the millions of parents in North Carolina who sent me to Washington to be their voice and, above all, to protect their children. To every parent in North Carolina: I hear you, I stand with you, and you have my word—I will not back down. And I’m not going to stop fighting until we get this right.
This is a public health crisis that deserves this Senate’s immediate attention. Our children should never be the testing ground for an industry willing to exploit a loophole in federal law for profit.
We must strip this amendment from the continuing resolution and regulate these harmful substances for what they are—not what the industry wants to call them. If a substance causes intoxication like marijuana, it should be regulated as such—not given a free pass as “hemp.” There is no loophole worth putting a child’s well-being at risk.
###
