Police seize marijuana-laced candy in Maryland
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Worries about marijuana-infused candy landing in kids' trick-or-treat bags came closer to reality here as police seized several boxes of it earlier this week.
Unlike Colorado and Washington, which legalized the sale of recreational pot earlier this year, selling marijuana in Maryland is not legal. The state did decriminalize the possession of less than 10 grams of pot as of Oct. 1, taking away the criminal penalties and jail time and instead imposing civil fines.
"This is the first time we've seen this product in Prince George's County," said Capt. Chuck Hamby, assistant commander of the Maryland county police department's Narcotic Enforcement Division. "We felt it important to let our community know that products like this exist so parents and guardians ensure the candy doesn't somehow wind up in their children's Halloween candy bag."
The candy, which includes taffy, mint chocolate bars, blueberry chocolate bars and banana-walnut chocolate bars, came from the West Coast and Colorado, he said.
Officers don't have any indication that the pot candy was destined for trick-or-treaters.
In Colorado, police are telling parents to be especially wary.
"A regular food item can look just like an item that's infused with THC," said Sgt. Matthew Collver of the Breckenridge, Colo., Police Department. They've seen treats called Pot-Tarts in similar packaging to Pop Tarts and Stoner-Bars that look like Snickers bars.
Earlier this month, Colorado-based TinctureBelle LLC and TinctureBelle Marijuanka LLC settled with The Hershey Co. after Hershey's filed a federal trademark infringement suit claiming that TinctureBelle's Ganja Joy, Hasheath, Hashees and Dabby Patty too closely resembled Hershey's iconic Almond Joy, Heath bars, Reese's peanut butter cups and York peppermint patty candies.
And in August, more than a half dozen people said they were given free samples of pot edibles at the Denver County Fair when they thought they were getting cookies, brownies and chocolate without THC, the ingredient in marijuana that makes you high. They're suing another edibles company, LivWell of Denver, because the fair's pot pavilion was supposed to be marijuana free.
Police in Maryland said manufacturers claim that each piece of candy they confiscated contains 100 milligrams of THC. Tests that the Denver Post commissioned earlier this year showed that actual THC could vary widely, both up and down, from the labels.
About 30 to 100 mg is considered a daily dose; 10 to 30 mg is a good starting point for those new to ingesting pot, according to the medical marijuana advocacy site MedicalJane.com.
Researchers say that marijuana that's eaten can have a different effect on the body than when it's smoked because of the way the drug is metabolized. A person feels the effects of a pot brownie or candy more slowly than smoking because it has to be digested but it stays in the body much longer.
One thing likely to stop anybody from giving out pot candy at Halloween is the price: One pot lollipop or imitation Snickers costs $5, a bag of cannabis-infused cotton candy is $12, a Reefer peanut-butter cup is $15, and a six-pack of Gummi Cares is $45, according to information online.
"The timing is what it is," a Prince George's County police official said. "If you raid your kids' Halloween candy and pull out the peppermint patties or whatever you like and you're not paying any attention, you could easily or a kid could easily open it up and eat it."
Contributing: Matt Renoux, KUSA-TV, Denver; The Associated Press
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