AP: Texas

07/20/2005

Associated Press

The sale of marijuana-flavored lollipops has a Texas 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 hemp oil, an ingredient found in health food and used in beauty products and other household supplies. But the confections are legal because they 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, whose 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 this summer's special legislative session. But he said he introduced the measure to alert communities about the existence of 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 in other places have tried to ban or control the sale of the lollipops. Chicago's City Council passed a law banning their sale, and a suburb in Atlanta passed a resolution opposing them.

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Information from: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, http://www.star-telegram.com