Buzzby

Bitter Fight Over Sweet Pot Treats
Henry K. Lee | San Francisco Chronicle | 03/26/2006

They had colorful labels and names such as Trippy, Stoney Rancher, Toka-Cola, Pot Tart and Budtella.

To federal drug agents, they were dangerous marijuana-laced concoctions that could fall into the hands of children. But to sick patients who rely on cannabis to ease their symptoms, they were just tasty ways to get their medicine _ and legal under California law.

Federal agents who converged on several of what they called "marijuana candy factories" around Oakland this month seized hundreds of sodas and candies laced with marijuana in what they said was the largest bust of its kind on the West Coast.

Authorities say the drug is illegal no matter what form it takes, especially marijuana candy products that mimic mainstream candies and are attractive to youths.

But angry medical-marijuana patients said investigators are blowing smoke and that the raids are just the latest proof that federal investigators are running roughshod over local and state laws that allow for medicinal cannabis use.

In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, which allows the use of marijuana for medical purposes with a doctor's recommendation. Despite the law, authorities _ from the California Highway Patrol to the Drug Enforcement Administration _ have pounced on local marijuana-growing operations in the Bay Area, including locations in San Francisco and Sonoma County in December.

The candy-factory raids are the latest crackdown.

"I think the government is once again trying to create terror through our community," said Angel Raich, 40, of Oakland, who uses the drug to treat pain, nausea and seizures associated with a brain tumor and a wasting syndrome. "I do know for a fact that medical-cannabis candy and those kinds of products are in the dispensaries, and patients do use them."

Rick Steeb, 55, of San Jose, who uses marijuana to treat the pain from glaucoma, said he's "never seen (the candy) outside the dispensaries. It's not like they were being sold in convenience stores."

But Special Agent Casey McEnry, spokeswoman for the DEA, the agency that conducted the raids, said marijuana "is a violation of federal law in this form and in the smoked form. Even though there may be claims that these weren't meant for kids, the packaging may suggest otherwise."

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