{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.budd.senate.gov/2026/08/05/icymi-budd-calls-on-colleagues-to-permanently-stop-dangerous-hemp-loophole-targeting-american-children/", "ICYMI: Budd Calls on Colleagues to Permanently Stop Dangerous Hemp Loophole Targeting American Children", "2026-08-05", "2026", "2026-08", "Republican", "Senate", "NC", "Ted Budd", "B001305", "www.budd.senate.gov", "budd", "https://www.budd.senate.gov/category/news/press-releases/page/", "scraper", "\u201cOur children should never be the testing ground for an industry willing to exploit a loophole in federal law for profit.\u201d\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 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 \u201chemp loophole\u201d that has allowed the intoxicating hemp industry to sell unregulated hemp-derived products that have been marketed to American children.\n\nWatch Senator Budd\u2019s remarks below:\n\nRead Senator Budd\u2019s remarks, as prepared for delivery, below:\n\nMister President,\n\nEvery parent in America wants the same thing: to know their child is safe.\n\nAs 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.\n\nThat 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.\n\nBut since last November, the intoxicating hemp industry has attempted to delay our effort to close this dangerous loophole.\n\nThese companies want to continue selling intoxicating THC substances, loosely labeled as \u201chemp\u201d products, on the shelves of local convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores nationwide.\n\nAnd 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.\n\nBut 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\u2014without realizing they\u2019re actually buying an intoxicating substance.\n\nIt 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.\n\nAre you telling me this isn\u2019t intentional? The four basic principles of marketing are: product, price, place, and promotion. And what we\u2019re looking at right here is a crash course in all four\u2014how 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.\n\nThis isn\u2019t some innocent coincidence. You don\u2019t accidentally create packaging for an intoxicating substance that bears an eerie resemblance to a recognizable brand. You don\u2019t 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.\n\nThe resemblance here is outrageous\u2014and 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.\n\nFrom 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.\n\nThese 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.\n\nIn my home state of North Carolina, cannabis consumption-coded emergency department visits among minors increased by 969 percent between 2017 and 2025.\n\nThat is nothing short of alarming.\n\nTHC 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.\n\nIt 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\u2014making them ineligible for service. That is also no accident.\n\nMister 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.\n\nThere are young people who are no longer walking this earth\u2014who 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.\n\nI am appalled by the well-oiled, slick lobbying machine\u2014which is very well connected in this town\u2014that has chosen to wage this surreptitious war against our efforts to protect American children.\n\nSo 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.\n\nWe 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\u2019s children.\n\nI 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\u2014making THC intoxicating substances readily accessible to our kids is an entirely different issue from the medical marijuana movement.\n\nToday, 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\u2014and they are putting our kids at risk.\n\nParents 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.\n\nThat is not too much to ask. It is common sense.\n\nAnd 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.\n\nI\u2019m not here to obstruct the Senate for the sake of obstruction.\n\nI\u2019m 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\u2014I will not back down. And I\u2019m not going to stop fighting until we get this right.\n\nThis is a public health crisis that deserves this Senate\u2019s immediate attention. Our children should never be the testing ground for an industry willing to exploit a loophole in federal law for profit.\n\nWe must strip this amendment from the continuing resolution and regulate these harmful substances for what they are\u2014not what the industry wants to call them. If a substance causes intoxication like marijuana, it should be regulated as such\u2014not given a free pass as \u201chemp.\u201d There is no loophole worth putting a child\u2019s well-being at risk.\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-06T07:37:31Z", "2026-08-06T07:38:34Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.budd.senate.gov/2026/08/05/icymi-budd-calls-on-colleagues-to-permanently-stop-dangerous-hemp-loophole-targeting-american-children/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4121199492365122, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}