Granville County parent Dee Gaona shared her reaction after four middle school students showed up to school and were impaired, according to Keith King, the Granville County Schools District Safety Officer.

“It’s a little worrying because I have four kids,” Gaona said.

King said the students ranged from 12 to 13 years old.  “Very concerning,” is how he described the incident.

“Slurred speech, a little lethargic, just truly not fully coherent,” King told WRAL Investigates about the children.

More concerning is the store students said they bought the vapes is right next to Butner Stem Elementary and Middle schools.

“It’s truly concerning,” is how King described the incident. “It’s truly concerning that an adult running a business would make their sales to juveniles.”

A new search warrant shows Alcohol Law Enforcement was called in. The agency conducted two undercover buys at Butner Tobacco and Vape and had the products tested at a Raleigh lab.

The results showed all three products tested over the legal limit for THC,  the active ingredient in marijuana.

King and others have described the current surge in vape stores and products derived from legal hump as the “Wild, wild West.”

“With these vapes, we don’t actually know what these kids are introducing into their body,” King said.

WRAL Investigates went undercover last year and purchased allegedly legal products at several Raleigh stores. WRAL Investigates took them to the same Raleigh lab and  80% of what we purchased was also over the legal limit for THC.

“Some of the products that are sold over the counter are not what they purport to be,” said state Rep. Dr. Timothy Reeder, R-Pitt County.

Reeder wants to create a commission to better regulate the products and those who sell them.

“If we have this regulation in place it will force the sellers to understand and know what their products that they’re selling are,” Reeder said of his proposed legislation. “They’re no longer going to be able to claim ignorance.”

It’s one of a growing list of bills right now in the legislature addressing CBD products and/or vaping.

“The goal of this bill is protect our young children from this product,” Reeder said.

Reeder added there are too many stores to perform random checks. He hopes licensing businesses and setting up a framework for enforcement will make a difference.

“We are combating it every way we can,” says Granville Schools Assistant Superintendent Courtney Currin.

Currin is dealing with it professionally and personally.

“For it to go down to middle school and my daughter’s a  middle schooler, to see that was even more concerning,” Currin said.

As for King, he says it’s time for action.

“Solely based on my former career as a police chief, or law enforcement officer and as a dad and grandfather at this point, absolutely,” King said. “We need to keep these things away from our children.”

The store owner, Abdulghani Alashmaly, faces seven different charges, including selling drugs within 1,000 feet of school property and several counts of drug possession. He was not charged with selling to underaged customers.

WRAL Investigates tried to contact Alashmaly via social media, but he did not respond to our request to respond to those charges. His next court is scheduled for July. At last check, the store, was still in business.