September 30, 2026
Provided Image/Montgomery County DA's Office
The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office filed charges against 46 businesses accused of selling illegal THC products on Thursday. District Attorney Kevin Steele said they could face fines or lose their licenses if they don't comply with the law. Above, a photo of THC products detectives purchased from a business in Eagleville.
Nearly 50 smoke shops, gas stations and corner stores were charged Thursday with selling illegal THC products in a monthslong investigation by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau and other law enforcement agencies, officials said.
Undercover officers bought illegal THC gummies, vape cartridges, beverages and other edibles at a total of 46 stores that spanned 26 townships across the county.
"Too many smoke shops and gas stations have become distributors of wholly unregulated, dangerous, and in this case, illegal products," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said Thursday.
The businesses accused of selling illegal products are each charged with a felony count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, which carries the potential for fines and the loss of business licenses. Individual business owners are not facing charges at this time, and the charges alone do not compel the businesses to cease operating.
Steele discussed the investigation at a news conference Thursday, saying businesses in Montgomery County had been warned to stop selling intoxicating products that were not compliant with state law.
"We made it clear that businesses choosing to continue selling these illegal products could face criminal prosecutions," Steele said.
The investigation followed a grand jury report from the DA's office last October that detailed the widespread availability of unregulated THC products Steele described as "straight-up marijuana" being sold at stores in the county. The grand jury found that consumers were being misled about the potency of many products, some of which had THC concentrations up to 2,000 milligrams.
"I think folks thought we were blowing smoke, for lack of a better way to say this," Steele said Thursday.
Steele said many of the products purchased by detectives had packaging apparently designed to appeal to kids. Some products contained the form of THC naturally found in marijuana, while others were in packaging that advertised hemp-derived and synthetic variants of the psychoactive substance.
"These products pose serious risks to public health and they're particularly dangerous when children gain access to them," Steele said. "And that's whether they intentionally do it by going in the store and buying it or it's accidental because they are able to obtain it."
The charges come amid years of deadlocked legislative debate over paths to legalizing adult-use cannabis in Pennsylvania. Although steps have been taken federally to close a legal loophole that spurred the proliferation of hemp-derived THC products in the United States, Steele said the job of his office is to enforce Pennsylvania's laws.
"There's a tremendous amount of misinformation about Pennsylvania law and about THC products," Steele said.
The DA said some businesses are relying on manufacturers and distributors of THC products to determine what is legal for them to sell. The grand jury report found that lab documents for the ingredients in a number of products contained false information. Many of the products in the grand jury report and subsequent undercover investigation contained THC levels that would not be compliant with federal or state law.
Other than regulated THC products that are permitted to be sold at medical marijuana dispensaries, Steele said the position of the DA's office in Montgomery County is that selling THC "in any form" is illegal.
The charges filed Thursday will come with legal conditions requiring businesses in the investigation to remove illegal products from their stores or potentially face upgraded charges.
"We just want people to be compliant with the law," Steele said. "This not anti-business or something along those lines. Don't sell illegal substances, at least in Montgomery County, because there are going to be consequences."
