MARIJUANA-FLAVOURED LOLLIPOPS CAUSE STIR

Politicians Don't Like Pro-Drug Message; Hemp Advocates Say It Tarnishes Them

CHICAGO -- As legislators crack down on the sale of marijuana-flavoured
lollipops, another debate is raging between their manufacturers and hemp
product advocates over what is in the candy.

Hemp advocates say the candy makers aren't being honest about what's in
their confection and that publicity is hurting the sale of legal hemp
products, made from a variety of the cannabis plant.

Chicago's City Council and Suffolk County, N.Y., both have passed laws
banning the sale of marijuana-flavoured candies. Legislators in Michigan,
New Jersey and New York also have introduced legislation to ban or control
the candies.

California-based Chronic Candy advertises that every lick of its candy is
"like taking a hit." The company, though, says the candies contain only
hemp oil, a common ingredient in health food, beauty supplies and other
household products.

"There is nothing illegal in our ingredients and they are ingredients that
are in most hard candy in the United States," said Tom Durkin, a Chicago
lawyer who represents Chronic Candy.

Though they have no proof, hemp advocates maintain the candies contain
cannabis flower essential oil, which they say is distilled from the flowers
of the cannabis plant. That, they say, is illegal.

Rusty Payne, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said
cannabis flower essential oil would be illegal if it contains
tetrahydrocannabinols, or THC, which is the illegal substance in marijuana,
but he did not know whether it did.

Hemp oil has a nutty flavour, said Adam Eidinger, spokesman for Vote Hemp,
an advocacy arm of the hemp industry.

"It tastes nothing like these lollipops," he said. "These lollipops taste
and smell like marijuana."

Hemp has only a trace of THC, he said. It cannot be legally grown in the
United States without a permit from the DEA, he said.

Hemp supporters acknowledge they cannot prove their claim about what's in
the lollipops and neither the U.S. Food and Drug Administration nor the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have tested the candies to determine
their ingredients.

Payne said the DEA probably will test the lollipops in the future.

"Certainly, they are on the radar," he said. "It's something we're aware of."

While the debate over the lollipops' ingredients continues, states and
cities across the country already are acting.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has issued a subpoena seeking
information on the advertising and marketing practices of Chronic Candy.

"Just because something isn't illegal doesn't make it right. These are
lollipops that are clearly targeted at kids," Madigan said. "As parents,
you spend an enormous amount of time and energy saying to kids, 'Don't
smoke, don't drink, don't do drugs.' Anything the glamorizes or lures them
into these destructive behaviours shouldn't be promoted."

Durkin, the Chronic Candy lawyer, said the lollipops are geared toward
adults and the company has never intentionally targeted children.