Fentanyl False Alarm: Montco DA Retracts Tainted THC Gummies Claim

NORRISTOWN, PA — Days after serving search warrants around Montgomery County and seizing dozens of items, claiming that THC and CBD gummies contained fentanyl and heroin, the district attorney's office announced this week that further testing on the products showed they did not, in fact, contain the lethal substances. Industry analysts around the country say the mistake is part of an ongoing trend, and that claims that marijuana and THC products are laced with fentanyl lack proof.

The false alarm put residents around the region on alert and sparked disbelief and ire that the gummies, legal in every way, packaged by established companies, and sold by longstanding local businesses, could possibly contain the narcotics that have killed thousands of Pennsylvanians.

"Some of the products were tested in a lab over the weekend, and those products did not alert to any illegal drugs at the lab’s threshold level of detection, meaning the levels identified using the Ionscan 600 instrument were not detectible," DA Kevin Steele said in a statement.

The Ionscan instrument appears to be the source of the confusion. Authorities were originally investigating a pair of fentanyl overdoses that they said were somehow linked to the gummies. Looking to move as quickly as possible, they rapidly scanned inventory seized from three Tobacco Hut locations in Montgomery County. That original scan came back with trace amounts of the illegal substances. The more thorough and accurate tests done in a laboratory over the weekend did not back up the Ionscan's results.

The DA's Office said the Ionscan, supplied by the Pennsylvania National Guard and typically used to identify trace amounts of explosives, is calibrated to detect tiny amounts of substances, all the way down to .01 nanograms. The rushed early testing, it turns, found just a trillionth of a gram of fentanyl.

It's not clear in what other investigations and circumstances, if any, local law enforcement uses this technology.

Individuals in the THC industry were infuriated and industry analysts pointed out the need for closer examination of law enforcement claims. Narcomedia host Christopher Moraff called Steel's statement "one of the worst retractions ever."

"Always lab confirm before raising a panic," he said on Twitter.

A segment this week on NewsNation with Chris Cuomo addressed the rising increase of police claims that fentanyl is in weed and products including THC. Toxicologist and fentanyl expert Dr. Ryan Marino told Cuomo that reports are misleading.

"When it comes to cannabis...not to say that it's not possible for people to put it (fentanyl) in there, there are bad people out there...but we're not seeing that," Marino said. "Despite all those reports, there's never been a confirmed case where it's been real."

Marino pointed explicitly to the Montgomery County case, noting the importance of "better, more validated testing."

But rather than further addressing the procedures and technologies that caused the false alarm and defamed products and a local business, Steele's retraction turned the situation back on what he called an "unregulated industry."

"A toddler getting ahold of them and ingesting them or a teenager who eats a handful at once could be very dangerous, and we need the public to know that," he said.

The two fentanyl overdoses, meanwhile, remain enshrouded in mystery. Officials are still investigating, though they don't have the package they say was contaminated and led to the incident.

"There are many avenues we are investigating, including the possibility of cross-contamination in the making and/or packaging of the THC edibles," Steele added.

Both individuals who overdosed have recovered.