Critics sour on pot-spiced candy
VITO PILIECI CANWEST NEWS SERVICE
OTTAWA
New marijuana-flavoured suckers, gum drops and chocolates are causing huge
controversy across the United States, sparking Chicago and Suffolk County, New
York, to ban the products.
The sweets, made by a company called Chronic Candy in Corona, Calif., are
now shipping across the border into Canada, thanks to the company’s Canadian
website and mail-order purchase division.
The website, for the company’s Canadian operations, states the candy has
already been sold in Canada at last July’s World Electronic Music Festival in
Wasaga Beach, north of Toronto.
The company uses real essential hemp oils to give the marijuana flavour to
its products. But, the company making the candy says the products do not
contain any tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive substance found in
marijuana.
The candy has been featured on TV talk shows such as Late Night With Conan
O’Brien, where rapper Snoop Dog promoted the product, saying “what do you do
when you’re on chronic? You want sweet things, you want munchies. So we pacify
you by giving you Chronic Candy.”
Other stars, including Paris Hilton and Mini-Me Verne Troyer of Austin
Powers fame, have been vocal in their support.
The candy, which has the slogan “every lick is like taking a hit” and “relax
it’s just candy,” comes in a variety of marijuana-themed flavours, including
Purple Erkle, Blue Haze, Rasta, Chronic, and Hydro.
The candies sell for about $1 US each for the suckers, $5 for a bag of the
gum drops (called Sticky Icky Buds) and a sack of chocolate for about $2.
At least one Canadian expert believes the product may be helping to
trivialize substance abuse.
Rosemary Munro, a certified alcohol and drug counsellor with Toronto’s
Addiction Intervention Services, said numerous studies indicate marijuana is a
gateway drug to harder drugs, such as cocaine.
She said parents need to speak to their children and educate them about the
new candy, and about the drug culture in general, before it has the chance to
become the next cool fad
Gufus
mailto:info@gypsy-designs.com
http://www.gypsy-designs.com
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