Major food brands seek crackdown on marijuana-infused copycats

Two fourth-graders in Edmond, Okla., went to the hospital after eating what looked like commercial gummy candies. In Cooper City, Fla., nine children were hospitalized after snarfing what seemed almost identical to a common brand of sour candy. And in Roy, Utah, five children consumed a candy called Nerds Rope, leaving two of them hospitalized. The package looked just like the popular candy made by Nestlé — but the product contained 400 milligrams of THC, the chemical in marijuana that makes people high. The candy with about 40 times the normal dose used by regular pot smokers was accidentally given out in food boxes to 63 people at the Utah Food Bank.

This week, a dozen major food and beverage companies including Pepsi, General Mills and Kellogg called on Congress to do more to prevent the proliferation of marijuana-infused copycat products that mimic their well-known brands.

They want to deter the sale of the products by broadening an existing law so that THC-laced products that simulate the “famous marks” of known brands would be considered counterfeit.

“Double Stuf Stoneos” might be worth a chuckle if you’re in the right frame of mind, but children are increasingly being duped by the use of famous brand logos, characters, trademarks and fonts on edible products containing THC. On the label, they see the same come-hither chocolate wafers and creamy filling of their favorite cookie but do not zero in on the knockoff’s fine print that says, “Contains THC.” They may not even be reading yet. [Read more at The Washington Post]

This Post Has 0 Comments

Recent Stories

Kentucky’s Medical Cannabis Program Undergoes Dramatic Transformation: Navigating HB 829 and the Emergency Licensing Regulations

By Hannah King and Arin Aragona Plans for Kentucky’s medical cannabis program took a significant turn last week with the passage of House Bill 829 and the implementation of emergency…

Cannabis in Court: When Federal Courts Will Hear Commercial Disputes Related to the Cannabis Business

By Steven Ascher and Anna M.Windemuth The unique status of the cannabis business — legal in a majority of states, but still illegal under federal law — creates a thorny…

Patchwork Regulation of CBD Products Continues Despite Rise in Demand

By Courtney A. Hunter and Jessalyn H. Zeigler Demand for cannabidiol (CBD) products continues to climb, and the market has risen to the occasion. There is now a robust array…

How Private Equity Trumped Social Equity in State Cannabis Deal

Confidential documents obtained by THE CITY reveal how Chicago Atlantic Group became one of the biggest beneficiaries of the state’s legalization program. Last June, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that a…