A plastic container filled with marijuana-flavored lollipops sits on the counter at Spencer Gifts in Ross Park Mall, its label beckoning customers to “taste the munchie goodness.”

At $1.99 per pop, the “Stoner Pop” candies are one variety of hemp-flavored sweets available in novelty stores and on the Internet. The candies combine an earthy taste and smoky smell with cheeky marketing slogans like “every lick is like taking a hit.”

But state Rep. Thomas C. Corrigan, D-Bucks County, doesn’t see any humor in the products. He plans to introduce a bill today that would outlaw all candy that tastes like marijuana.

Mr. Corrigan’s bill would outlaw retail sales of both types of candies in Pennsylvania, and he is investigating whether the bill would apply to Internet sales as well.

Chicago and Suffolk County, N.Y., have already passed similar laws, according to a news release from Rep. James E. Casorio, D-Irwin, a co-sponsor of the bill. Legislators in Michigan, New Jersey and New York also have introduced bills to ban the candies.

Manufacturers and distributors of hemp candy insist that they do not market to children. The label on each Stoner Pop notes that the lollipops are not intended for minors, although Spencer Gifts does not restrict sales to those 18 and older.

One popular Web site, www.chroniccandy.com, asks users to click a button indicating that they are at least 18 before viewing products such as its “chronic,” “ganja” and “hydro” flavored lollipops.

“It’s nothing but a hysterical tough-on-crime sound-bite reaction,” said Thomas Anthony Durkin, attorney for the Corona, Calif.-based Chronic Candy. “With all due respect to the legislator, I don’t believe that there’s any connection between these lollipops and use of drugs.”

Those looking for the lollipops in the Pittsburgh area won’t find many places to buy them. All tobacco shops contacted do not carry the lollipops, nor do most shops that carry other hemp items.

Source:www.post-gazette.com October 2005