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For information on submitting an obituary, please contact Reading Eagle by phone at 610-371-5018, or email at obituaries@readingeagle.com or fax at 610-371-5193. Most obituaries published in the Reading Eagle are submitted through funeral homes and cremation services, but we will accept submissions from families. Obituaries can be emailed to obituaries@readingeagle.com. In addition to the text of the obituary, any photographs that you wish to include can be attached to this email. Please put the text of the obituary in a Word document, a Google document or in the body of the email. The Reading Eagle also requires a way to verify the death, so please include either the phone number of the funeral home or cremation service that is in charge of the deceased's care or a photo of his/her death certificate. We also request that your full name, phone number and address are all included in this email. All payments by families must be made with a credit card. We will send a proof of the completed obituary before we require payment. The obituary cannot run, however, until we receive payment in full. Obituaries can be submitted for any future date, but they must be received no later than 3:00 p.m. the day prior to its running for it to be published. Please call the obituary desk, at 610-371-5018, for information on pricing. NORRISTOWN — After a 10-month investigation, a Montgomery County grand jury issued a report that highlights the danger of unregulated so-called “smoke shops” that sell THC products, such as gummies, vapes, edibles and oils, and makes recommendations regarding reforms to make communities safer. “It’s a call to action, a buyer-beware warning,” District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said on Thursday during a news conference at which he released the 100-page grand jury report entitled, “Unregulated, Unsafe and Illegal — the Reality of Smoke Shops in Pennsylvania.” “The numerous witnesses who testified before the grand jury provided a comprehensive and troubling picture of a health crisis, due to the unregulated nature of these products and the smoke shops, gas stations and other retail outlets who sell them in ways that skirt or outright violate current laws,” said Steele, adding the “wild west situation” exists due to a lack of needed laws and oversight that puts adults and children in jeopardy from unregulated products and little oversight of retailers and their operations. Steele was joined at the news conference by Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe, Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn and Pennsylvania State Police Lieutenant Joshua A. Lacey. Chester County authorities, according to de Barrena-Sarobe, uncovered incidents involving teens being hospitalized after ingesting substances purchased from smoke shops. “It was flagrant, absolutely flagrant,” de Barrena-Sarobe said about the sales, explaining that last month, authorities executed search warrants at 16 stores in Chester County and made arrests. “We’re doing everything we can to stop it in its tracks right now. But this short-term success that we’ve cultivated is going to be worthless if we don’t get the help that’s been outlined in this grand jury report from the Legislature. It’s time for the Legislature to step up, too.” “The proliferation of these unregulated smoke shops presents a clear public health and safety threat to our communities,” Schorn added. “Could there be any more worthy cause than protecting our children. All of us as parents know that we need explicit permission for a school nurse to give Tylenol to our children, but our children can go into these shops and literally purchase and ingest an illegal substance with grave consequences. We have to do better.” Steele explained that passage of the federal 2018 Farm Bill resulted in the proliferation of unregulated smoke shops that have “popped up literally everywhere.” In Montgomery County, there are 240 smoke shops, one shop for every two square miles in the county, according to officials. “Frankly they are unregulated, they are unsafe and they are selling illegal products without oversight and without concerns for the health of Pennsylvanians, especially without regard to the health of our children,” said Steele, adding that currently there are no age restrictions on who can purchase products at a smoke shop, unlike alcohol and tobacco products that are regulated by state laws. “Meaning children have full access to all of the products in these smoke shops, as well as the same products in gas stations and convenience stores.” The 23-person grand jury outlined several dangerous incidents that occurred in the county as a result of children gaining access to THC products. On Dec. 24, 2024, a 14-year-old purchased, without identification, and consumed a “Krisp Rice Treat” at a smoke shop in Lower Merion and after consuming it, became panicked and exhibited signs of intoxication and began vomiting. On March 23, 2025, a 21-month-old Douglass (Mont.) Township toddler ate THC gummies found in a household drawer and became ill, lethargic and unable to stand. On April 3, 2025, a 16-year-old in Lower Providence purchased a marijuana gummy from another student, and shortly after eating it, the teen experienced trouble breathing and dizziness and was transported to a hospital. The grand jury investigation included testimony by smoke shop owners, physicians, toxicologists and narcotics enforcement detectives regarding their undercover smoke shop purchases from numerous stores. Testing on 144 purchased products, primarily flower and THC vapes, found that 93.75%, or 135 of the products, were full-blown marijuana with THC levels of 5.0% and higher, well above the legal limit of 0.3%, officials said. Officials said the products were openly being sold under the guise of “hemp” and being “Farm Bill compliant,” leaving customers, especially youths, dangerously uninformed. “What we found in a lot of them is they are selling straight-up marijuana. The results make it clear that these smoke shops are acting as our neighborhood marijuana dealers,” said Steele, adding the grand jury report puts retailers on notice. “People that are selling drugs out of their stores, marijuana out of their stores, that’s illegal, that’s a felony. There are serious ramifications for that. You continue on this way, plan on getting arrested. That’s how this is going to go because it’s no different than somebody out there dealing drugs on the street, Steele added. Steele, without going into detail, added, “People have been arrested and more people will get arrested if they continue on this track.” “This is a community and public health emergency, and the Pennsylvania Legislature needs to take swift and decisive action to regulate this industry, much like the Commonwealth regulates tobacco and alcohol products in order to protect the public health,” Steele added. To protect children, the grand jury recommended establishing an age requirement of 21 to purchase THC products; restricting sales and marketing of THC products near schools, playgrounds, childcare facilities and other places were minors gather within a defined distance, such as 1,000 feet; requiring electronic identification scanning; and regulating how THC products are marketed, specifically prohibiting the use of packaging, flavors and advertising strategies that target children or resemble familiar snack foods. The grand jury also concluded that legislative action is needed to fix the Farm Bill to clearly state that products containing Delta-8 and Delta-10 cannabinoids and similar components are subject to the same restrictions as marijuana. Other legislative actions recommended by the grand jury include: • Establish regulations on dosage, standardized serving sizes and potency, along with comprehensive labeling, of THC products (The report noted that most states limit single servings of THC products to 10 milligrams and packages to 100 milligrams.) • Require unmistakable markings on all THC edibles to easily identify them to help curb accidental consumption. • Implement warning labels on THC product packaging to provide clear guidance on safe usage, including dosage information, serving size, and time to feel the onset of effects. Additionally, the report recommended legislation to establish civil liability laws that hold THC product sellers accountable when someone is harmed by a product that was mislabeled, untested or deceptively marketed or other negligence, such as failure to enforce age restrictions. As for the regulation of smoke shops, the grand jury recommended creating a statewide licensing system, such as Pennsylvania has for the sale of tobacco and alcohol, which would allow for regular oversight, limit the number of smoke shops within defined geographical areas and establish a system for holding store owners accountable. Routine inspection and enforcement should be conducted by regulatory agencies, the grand jury report recommended. Store owners and employees should be required to undergo training about product safety, legal responsibilities and following age verification protocols, the grand jury recommended. To ensure product safety, there should be mandatory, regular batch testing of THC levels by accredited labs for all products sold in smoke shops, the report recommended. A centralized information system should be created for retail oversight to include a list of certified testing labs, the results of testing and lists of violating distributors and their products. The grand jury report also recommended developing public education and awareness campaigns to highlight the risks of unregulated THC products and to educate the public about the difference between regulated medical marijuana and unregulated retail products. “As we review the truths that we have uncovered in our investigation, the testimony and our findings paint a clear picture that without immediate legislative action and stronger enforcement, our communities remain vulnerable to the unchecked spread of dangerous substances disguised as legal retail products,” the grand jurors wrote in the report.
