CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — A bill that would make it illegal to sell or own synthetic Delta-8, Delta-9 and Delta-10 products in West Virginia passed the West Virginia State Senate on Wednesday.

The bill would classify the products as Schedule I substances, which would make them illegal to own or sell.

The packaging will sometimes look like ordinary candy, but it contains stimulants like synthetic THC.

The State Senate unanimously voted to ban those products on Wednesday.

Sen. Mike Stuart (R-Kanawha) – who proposed the bill – says the bill will protect children in West Virginia.

“I am proud to have played a key role in each of these critical bills,” Sen. Mike Stuart said in a press release. “I am proud of the overwhelming and bipartisan support by the State Senate for passage of laws that will immediately protect our children and deal with what many call ‘the next opiate crisis’.”

On Feb. 15, the West Virginia Oil Marketers & Grocers Association (OMEGA) said they had been working with the State Senate to put additional regulations on legal products to keep illegal products out of stores, and shared the following statement regarding the bill Stuart proposed:

“It is VERY important to us to keep legal CBD products out of the hands of the children of our state, which is exactly why we have been working with anyone who shares these same goals.,” OMEGA said. “The safety of the children in this state is of the utmost importance to us – just as we know it is to Senator Stuart. Perhaps Senator Stuart doesn’t have all the facts – or maybe he is confused about the differences in these products. We feel it is vital to set the record straight and lay out the facts to remove all confusion surrounding this important topic.”

OMEGA said in a statement that the products Stuart was using in media interviews “inaccurately depicted the legal CBD Delta 8 & 10 products that our members sell in their stores.”

A companion bill says the products could still be made with hemp which contains small amounts of naturally occurring THC, which is non-intoxicating. You would have to be 21 years old to buy them.