ONLY SUCKERS BUY THESE 'POPS'

Chicago Police On The Lookout For PCP- And THC-Laced Lollipops

The Chicago Police issued a community alert last week warning citizens
of the potentially hazardous effects of drugs disguised as harmless
looking candy suckers being sold on the street.

Individually wrapped lollipops in the shapes of Santa Claus heads,
pumpkins and maple leaves, in bright shades of green, amber and red
were selling on the city's West Side for $10, according to police
officials. What makes these candies so expensive is they contain PCP,
a hallucinogenic, and THC, the active component in marijuana.

On a search warrant, Chicago Police Special Operations arrested
Michael Pernell, 29, of the 1300 block of South Central Park Avenue.
Pernell's residence was under surveillance after the CPD received
information about the sale of candy containing a suspect narcotic.

The sale of the suckers has primarily been in the 15th District, the
areas between 13th Street and Douglas Boulevard, and Central Park
Avenue and Independence Boulevard, according to the community alert.
"We put out the community alert to notify parents and children," said
Sgt. Edward Alonzo, CPD news affairs spokesman. "We don't want kids to
be using [the suckers]."

According to the police report, items obtained from Pernell's home
included 34 lollipops containing PCP, 348 rounds of .22-caliber
ammunition and smaller amounts of cash and marijuana.

Alonzo said Pernell was charged with possession of a controlled
substance and possession of cannabis, as well as possession with
intent to deliver. Pernell was also charged for the possession of the
ammunition, because he did not have a firearm owner's identification
card, which is required in Illinois for possession of a gun or ammunition.

"At this point, we don't know the extent or how many [lollipops] are
out there," Alonzo said.

But Jake Epperly, medical director of the New Hope Recovery Center at
the Lincoln Park Hospital, does not have too much concern for this
phenomenon.

"Overall, in the United States in 2002, there was a 48 percent
increase in the use of PCP. But in the Chicago area there was actually
a decrease," Epperly said.

Epperly said in the 20 years he's been in the medical field, this is
the first time he has heard of PCP coming in the form of a lollipop.

Dr. David Gorelick, a doctor with the National Institute on Drug Abuse
of the National Institutes of Health, said PCP is a difficult drug to
deal with.

"[PCP] can have such a varied effect. It can act as an upper, a
downer, a anesthetic, and it can make people psychotic, which is
probably one of the more undesirable effects," Gorelick said. "With
cocaine or marijuana, you can better predict [people's reactions], but
PCP can be much more unpredictable."

How PCP affects an individual depends on the potency, how the drug is
taken and the individual's size. While the CPD has issued the alert to
warn of children consuming the lollipops, experts believe they are
meant for an older audience.

"The customer base is anyone who can afford the $10 to buy them,"
Alonzo said.

Chicago Police is asking anyone who sees any such candies to call 911.