LAWMAKER FEARS CANDY SPARKS TASTE FOR DRUGS

Pena Says His Concern For Kids Led To Bill Targeting Lollipops With A
Marijuana Flavor

FORT WORTH - The sale of marijuana-flavored lollipops has a state
legislator concerned that children will become comfortable with the
drug culture.

Rep. Aaron Pena, D-Edinburg, has proposed a bill that would control
the sale of confections that simulate the taste of marijuana, which
are sold under the names Chronic Candy, Pot Suckers and others.

The candy gets marijuana's grassy flavor from oils derived from plants
that also yield the drug, but the confections don't include the
chemical that creates a high.

"It introduces the idea of marijuana use and gives tacit approval to
the introduction of a product that we spend billions of dollars to
fight against," said Pena.

The bill would make selling or offering to sell a cannabis confection
a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a
$4,000 fine.

Pena's bill wasn't taken up during the special legislative
session.

But he said he introduced the measure to alert communities about the
candies. Those communities can ban the lollipops even if the
Legislature takes no action.

Makers of the candies say they aren't marketing to children and accuse
some politicians of trying to make a name for themselves by targeting
their product.

"It's stupid grandstanding by a legislator who thinks he can get some
tough-on-crime votes," said Tom Durkin, an attorney for
California-based Chronic Candy.

Lawmakers elsewhere have tried to ban or control the sale of the
lollipops.

Chicago's City Council banned their sale, and an Atlanta suburb passed
a resolution opposing them.