"Pot Sucker"

[Linda]

I can not believe these are being sold at $1.99 a pop...excuse the pun.

Lawmakers are trying to get them off the shelves,but I don't see it happening anytime soon!! Remember the candy cigarettes? They are still being sold. What Next!!!

[Amsmom]

linda, i've never heard of a p o t sucker!!! please fill me in!!!
how strange

[finnmom]

explain please, lost me totally too Do you mean it´s made of real p o t

[AnneM]

I'm another one who needs an explanation!!

What are these?

[Linda]

Pot Suckers alarm state lawmakers
Legislator wants to ban candy with hemp in it


By Nicole Jacques
Lansing State Journal

Buy this photo
(ROBERT KILLIPS/Lansing State Journal)
Boutique fare: Mollee Neff, owner of the Blue Earth Boutique and Salon in downtown Grand Ledge, displays hemp products sold there, includingitSuckers, a candy that lawmakers in many states want to ban.

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What's in them?

•itSuckers, which are sold at Spencer Gifts stores for $1.99, are green lollipops made with hemp but contain no tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), marijuana's intoxicating ingredient.

• Here are the ingredients, as they appear on the wrapper: sugar, corn syrup, citrus and/or malic acid, natural and artificial flavors, hemp (for flavor), FD&C Yellow 5 & 6, Blue 1 & 2, Red 3 & 40 (food dyes).

Licking a lollipop seems innocent enough.

But marijuana-inspired goodies flying off store shelves have some state lawmakers concerned the candy will lead to more than sugar buzzes.

Rep. Dudley Spade, D-Tipton, wants a ban on selling candy that contains hemp, the plant from which marijuana is made.

"The last thing we need to have our children acquiring is a taste for is an illegal drug," said Spade, who introduced legislation earlier this month. "I'm concerned it could be a gateway to future drug use."

Spencer Gifts stores, including one at Meridian Mall, have been selling out ofitSuckers - green lollipops made with hemp that jovially claim to be "highly addictive" and taste "like the real deal."

Similar proposals have been pushed by lawmakers and other officials in New York, New Jersey and Illinois. Police also have supported the measures.

"It concerns me to see any kind of products out there that either promote drugs or diminish the perception of the dangers," Michigan State Police Lt. Tim Gill said.

"What kind of message does that send to kids?"

Manufacturers and sellers who oppose a ban say hemp is just another flavor used in foods, like cherry or banana.

Many other hemp-flavored convections are available, such as Gummi Bears, chocolate truffles and chewing gum.

None contain tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the intoxicating ingredient in marijuana.

And the products aren't intended for children, said Matthew Huijgen, president of HempWorld, Inc.

The California wholesaler distributes his products to novelty and tobacco stores, and advertises in mature magazines.

"It limits the freedom of citizens to choose if they want to enjoy this type of candy," Huijgen said.

Blue Earth Boutique and Salon in downtown Grand Ledge sells Huijgen's hemp pops for $1.itSuckers sell for $1.99.

Owner Mollee Neff, who also sells hemp lotions and lip balms, said the problem is marketing that alludes to marijuana, not hemp products themselves.

"I disagree with them being calleditSuckers," she said. "That's false advertising."

Dustin Rowlee, 17, agrees the candy shouldn't be banned for containing hemp.

"If they did that, they should ban hemp hacky sacks and hemp clothing," the Mason resident quipped. "It's not like it has THC in it."

For Neczi Williams, a Lansing mother of two young boys, it doesn't matter whether marijuana's mood-altering ingredient is actually in the candy.

"I wouldn't want my kids to have it under that name," she said ofitSuckers. "It puts ideas in their heads."

Other parents, including Okemos mom Dalia Geva, don't see too much harm.

"This is not why kids use weed," said Geva, who has an 11-year-old son.

"Kids who have a good head on their shoulders won't" smoke marijuana.

Contact Nicole Jacques at 377-1066 or [e-mail].

[Allanque]

...Honestly, I think that if they can sell cigarettes and alcohol legally, they should be able to sell marijuana legally.

They closed down a store in the Midland mall because it had "hemp" in its name. It was selling hemp jewelry. *gasps in horror*

The reason growing marijuana was illegalized in the first place didn't really have much to do with drugs. It was mainly banned because the cotton lobby was really powerful and didn't want the competition from hemp farmers.

I think that the "War on Drugs" will continue to be a joke until they realize that telling people thatitis just as bad as harder drugs backfires. Do you honestly know people who don't smokeitjust because the government says not to? They group it with harder drugs, and I do know some people who tried them (granted, they were dingbats) using the logic that if the government was lying about the dangers of marijuana, they must be lying about the other ones, too.

I think this is another example of the authorities freaking out over something trivial.

[AnneM]

This thread has now been unlocked but please can I remind everyone that this is NOT a thread on whether marijuana should be legalised or not and is not a thread on the rights and wrongs of marijuana usage.

The original topic concerned the fact that these p*o*t Suckers are out there for sale.

[Linda]

Personally...I don't want them sold locally because I would not want to explain to 8 year old Jacob what it is all about

[mothercat]

Anne...you are exactly right...there is no correlation between hemp and mary jane (forgive me I am old).
At my gift shop the specialty of the house is hand made hemp products..windchimes and jewelry. I am a hemp designer when I am not doing everything else..thats what I was doing full time when gramma got ill....now I have to maintain it as a part time thing. I have a whole shop full and if anyone is anti drug ...it would be me.
During the civil war the farmers here grew hemp for rope
now it occasionally comes up in the ditches but that is from passing car windows and not rope. Most of the hemp is imported from Hungary. You could smoke it and eat it but the only high you will get is from fiber (if you are old) and a belly ache if young. I think suckers with hemp are nothing more than a promotional draw intended to get younger purchasers (or stupid teens) .
There are many legitimate products made from hemp but most of them non edible. ;D My dogs do enjoy the taste of hemp as they ate about 200.00 worth of it when I accidentally left products lay on the table over night while doing pictures for a web site Bud is working on for me. They gave it back out in the back yard two days later. (I didn't want it anymore.)
Pot suckers might actually be good for fiber content...so are dandelions and spinache..Jared wont eat them either. The main problem is the conception of the public that they are related to the Janeit. What was it that Barnum / Baily said about one being born every day? It applies. ;D ;D ;D

[Linda]

Would that be "A fool". It sure does apply!!!

[mothercat]

I mean it would be like sstuffing your mouth full of hay and saying" yum candy!"