Heroin and Fentanyl Found in Gummies From Three Smoke Shops, Says Montco DA
The gummies were allegedly sold at Tobacco Hut shops in Blue Bell, Hatfield, and Montgomeryville. But the brand in question is available elsewhere.
The Montco DA says these Strictly Delta gummy products found at Montco smoke shops contained fentanyl and heroin (photos courtesy Montco DA)
2/28 UPDATE: Further tests on the gummies over the weekend yielded much, much different results. For the full story, go here.
ORIGINAL:
No matter where you live in the Greater Philadelphia Area, you probably have smoke shops nearby selling cigarettes, vapes, and CBD gummies as well as gummies made with Delta-8 and Delta-9, components similar to THC but different enough that they are legal. It’s become a huge business. But what exactly is in the products these shops are selling? Well, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office, some gummies confiscated from three smoke shops in the county have been found to contain heroin and fentanyl.
The gummies in question were found at the Tobacco Hut stores in Montgomeryville, Hatfield, and Blue Bell, according to the Montco DA’s office, which added that testing is continuing. An investigation began after two non-fatal overdoses were traced to Tobacco Hut stores, says the DA. The DA’s office said it had confirmed that some gummies sold under the Strictly Delta brand were found to have been contaminated with these harmful substances.
“Individuals should not consume any flavors of these Strictly Delta brand of gummies,” DA Kevin Steele said at a press conference. “If anyone has any of these gummies, do not eat them! We need to get the word out that some of these packages contain deadly drugs—fentanyl and heroin. We don’t yet know whether other items from the stores contain deadly drugs. Testing is ongoing. We also don’t know if this is a widespread issue but we are working with law enforcement at the local, state and federal levels to ascertain that.”
The DA’s office said it’s unclear how the heroin and fentanyl wound up in the gummies, whether the products had been made that way or tampered with after production. (The office later noted that other brands have been found to be contaminated and suggested the public check the office’s Facebook page, where they will continue to post products as test results come in.)
Strictly Delta could not be reached for comment. As of Friday morning, the company’s website was inoperable, and the voicemail box for a phone number listed to the company in Staten Island was full. The latest post on the Strictly Delta Instagram page is from July 2022.
A representative of the Tobacco Hut store in Montgomeryville, who declined to provide his name, said that the DA office’s statements were “untrue.”
Meanwhile, Strictly Delta gummies are fairly widespread at local shops, and we found some at one Delco store on Friday. We asked the person working at the store if they had heard about issues with heroin or fentanyl in Strictly Delta products or any other gummies, and they said they had not but that they would stop selling Strictly Delta until they learned more.
