UNITED STATES, Oct 18 – Colorado police are warning parents that sweets laced with marijuana may end up in children’s Halloween trick-or-treat bags. The state was the first in the US to allowed recreational sales of the drug to adults earlier this year. Experts issued pictures of two nearly identical gummy bears – one infused with marijuana concentrate and one without – and said it was almost impossible to tell the difference.

Police have also released a video warning parents some sweets may not be all they seem and they should check the products are made by well-known brands, throwing out anything that appeared tampered with. Police say it is very hard to tell the marijuana sweets from regular candy. Sergeant Brett Hinkle from Denver police’s marijuana unit said: “Apples, gummy bears, there’s a ton of different edible stuff out there on the market that’s infused with marijuana.”

Anti-drug activists say kids’ favourites such as Sour Patch Kids, Pixy Stix and peanut butter cups have all been found in Colorado infused with potent marijuana concentrate. The owner of the pot shop displays the gummy bears and explains how some producers of pot edibles buy cheap, generic sweets in bulk, then infuse them by spraying with hash oil.

Activists and police say the main risk to children is they could eat the sweets by accident, mistaking them for regular candy, not that they will be given them maliciously while out trick-or-treating. A seven-year-old girl in Basalt, Colorado, was taken to hospital in June after her mother unwittingly brought home a chocolate ball containing the drug from a hotel she works at.

Patrick Johnson, from a Denver marijuana outlet, said: “Some of these products look so similar to candy that’s been on the market and which we’ve eaten as children. “There’s really no way for a child or a parent, or even an expert in the field, to tell.” Officials have passed a law that by 1 January 2016 all pot edibles must be shaped, stamped, coloured or marked with a standard symbol.

Credit : REUTERS

Pocket News

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