Don't Be Deceived: Long Island Shops Selling THC Gummies In Normal Candy Packaging

Three Long Island shops have been selling THC gummies in packaging that can easily be mistaken for regular candy, a local police department warned last week, reported TBR News Media.

In a joint inspection by the New York State Office of Cannabis Management, Suffolk County Police Department and Port Jefferson Village, cannabis-infused gummy candies were found in the chain store 'Organically Connected' at locations in Port Jefferson, Patchogue and Huntington.

The cannabis products in question included Stoner Patch Dummies and Sour Patch gummies, reported Patch citing a Facebook post by Suffolk Country's Public Information Bureau.

The state's cannabis regulator issued "cease and desist" orders to the store, the police department's post says.

Steve Chassman of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence raised concerns about the packaging and the dangers it imposes on children.

"If you look at the packaging, this is clearly geared toward adolescents, to people under 21. Get ready because the onslaught of $1 billion in marketing is going to be targeting young adults," he said.

Unfortunately, Cannabis edibles continue to pose a high risk to children and youth.

Why?

Coming in the form of gummy bears, brownies, cookies and other sweets that look like candy or regular food, people often don't think of edibles in the same way as household chemicals or other dangerous substances a child can get into, Dr. Marit Tweet, a medical toxicologist with the Southern Illinois School of Medicine recently said.

Marit led a recently published study in the journal Pediatrics, which revealed that between 2017 and 2021, the number of incidents in which children under the age of six accidentally ate edible cannabis products rose by 1,375%. Moreover, the new findings came on the heels of a recently published research in Clinical Toxicology, which revealed a 245% rise in pediatric abuse and misuse of cannabis from 2000 to 2020.

Another issue is that intoxication from edibles takes more time to show, Adrienne Hughes, assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University, recently said.

"Compared to smoking cannabis, which typically results in an immediate high, intoxication from edible forms of marijuana usually takes several hours, which may lead some individuals to consume greater amounts and experience unexpected and unpredictable highs," she explained.

Is Cannabis Marketing To Blame For Undesired Trend?

Meanwhile, New York, which legalized marijuana in March 2021, forbids marketing and advertising that "is designed in any way to appeal to children or other minors" (the adoption of rules regarding the use of cartoons and neon colors is still pending).

On the other hand, as cannabis continues to be considered an illegal substance on the federal level, some cannabis businesses are taking advantage of the gray area to market their products using tactics that may be causing the undesirable trend of increased abuse of cannabis by children and youth.

Photo: Benzinga Edit, Source:  Glen Carrie and Elsa Olofsson on Unsplash