Lothar121

Just Say No To Cannabis Candy, Supervisor Says
Michele R. Marcucci | Mercury-Register | 04/04/06

Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley wants to protect your kids from Chronic and Hydro and Sticky Icky Buds.

All three are part of a line of marijuana- and hemp-flavored candy that Miley wants banned. The Board of Supervisors is set to discuss a ban on the sale of such products today.

The candy improperly influences young teens and adults and its only use is to promote illegal behavior, the proposed ordinance says. ``The inappropriate and/or mistaken use of marijuana can have negative health effects,'' a staff report signed by Miley said, and it is a gateway to additional drug use.

Miley did not return calls seeking comment Monday. But the owner of Chronic Candy, the Corona-based company that claims to have originated the candy, says Miley is just blowing political smoke.

The company's Web site may say ``every lick is like taking a hit,'' but there's nothing illegal in the lollipops, gumdrops or chocolate the company sells, Chronic Candy's owner Tony Van Pelt, said.

Some of the candy has hemp oil in it - which is not illegal - but there's no THC, which is the active ingredient in marijuana. He argued that his candy, like liquor-flavored chocolates, Las Vegas or Playboy magazine, is for adults. His Web site has a disclaimer that it is for adults only.

And besides.
"People don't go to marijuana for the taste,'' Van Pelt said.

Van Pelt started his company in 2000, after finding pot-flavored candy on a trip to Holland with his parents. He sells it all over the country, particularly on concert tours, he said.

Pot-loving rapper Snoop Dogg and celebutante Paris Hilton have endorsed the candy, but politicians aren't too high on it. The candy has been banned in Chicago and Suffolk County, N.Y., and is facing a possible ban in Georgia, Van Pelt said. Other states also are reportedly considering bans.

Van Pelt said he has changed his Web site and product packaging to make it clear the candy is not for kids. And he said he's happy to talk to parents or politicians who take issue with his product, though he's befuddled as to how anyone in the state that passed a medical marijuana law could be concerned about his product.

He said parents could use it as a tool to teach their children about the dangers of drug use.

"Use Chronic Candy to have that conversation at home about drugs,'' Van Pelt said. ``Say why this product isn't for us as a family.''

Contact Michele R. Marcucci at mmarcucci@angnewspapers.com.

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