Pennsylvania Bill Bans Candies that Taste like Pot

Some of the candies, like Stoner Pop, are merely flavored like marijuana.
Monday, October 10, 2005

By ANYA SOSTEK - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Marijuana-flavored Stoner Pops ask customers to "taste the munchie goodness."

A plastic container filled with marijuana-flavored lollipops sits on the counter at Spencer Gifts in Pittsburgh, its label beckoning customers to "taste the munchie goodness."

At $1.99 per pop, the "Stoner Pop" candies are one variety of hemp-flavored sweets available in novelty stores and on the Internet. The candies combine an earthy taste and smoky smell with cheeky marketing slogans like "every lick is like taking a hit."

But Pennsylvania state Rep. Thomas C. Corrigan doesn't see any humor in the products. He's backing legislation to outlaw all candy that tastes like marijuana.

"It is really frightening to develop a taste for marijuana in children through lollipops," he said.

Corrigan said he was told of the lollipops by a borough councilman in his district, who noticed some for sale in Trenton, N.J. He said he has since heard reports of hemp candy for sale at county fairs, convenience stores and candy stores.

Some of the candies, like Stoner Pop, are merely flavored like marijuana. Others, such as those available at www.hempcandy.com, contain oils from a cannabis plant but do not contain the chemical THC that produces the high associated with marijuana.

Corrigan's bill would outlaw retail sales of both types of candies in Pennsylvania, and he is investigating whether the bill would apply to Internet sales as well.

Chicago and Suffolk County, N.Y., have already passed similar laws, according to a news release from Rep. James E. Casorio, a co-sponsor of the bill. Legislators in Michigan, New Jersey and New York also have introduced bills to ban the candies.

Manufacturers and distributors of hemp candy insist that they do not market to children. The label on each Stoner Pop notes that the lollipops are not intended for minors.

One popular Web site, www.chroniccandy.com, asks users to click a button indicating that they are at least 18 before viewing products such as its "chronic," "ganja" and "hydro" flavored lollipops.

"It's nothing but a hysterical tough-on-crime sound-bite reaction," said Thomas Anthony Durkin, attorney for the Corona, Calif.-based Chronic Candy. "With all due respect to the legislator, I don't believe that there's any connection between these lollipops and use of drugs."

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com.)