Pot times July 16, 2005
Parents, Police Not High On 'Marijuana' Lollipops
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1122/a05.htmlNewshawk: -Humphrey Ploughjogger- (mip://0398bc78/www.MassCann.org)
Pubdate: Thu, 14 Jul 2005 PARENTS, POLICE NOT HIGH ON 'MARIJUANA' LOLLIPOPS
Source: Lowell Sun (MA)
Contact:
letters@lowellsun.com
Copyright: 2005 MediaNews Group, Inc.
Website: http://www.lowellsun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/852
Author: Peter Ward, Sun Staff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm
(Cannabis)
LOWELL -- It was only a lollipop, but among the Levines, it created a generation
gap-like chasm of thought.
"This is outrageous," said Jackie Levine as she inspected a
marijuana-flavored lollipop still in its wrapper.
No it isn't, laughed her 14-year-old son, Ben. Levine, a Nashua
schoolteacher, contends that Pot Suckers, which are popular and fast
disappearing from the countertops at Spencer Gifts, shouldn't be sold at all.
Soon they won't be. New Jersey-based ICUP Inc. stopped distribution
late last month, despite strong sales.
Naked without it wrapper, the hemp-green lollipop, which is made by several
companies, looks innocent enough.
But its label showing cannabis leaves, the Jefferson Airplane line, "Feed
your head, feed your belly," a warning that it's "highly
addictive." The label boasts, "Tastes like the real 'deal,'" with
an emphasis on deal. "It's a bad promotion and sends a bad
message," Levine said. Her son, Ben, however, said it's OK because
the product lacks illegal substances such as tetrahydrocannabinol ( THC ) that
gives marijuana its high. "It's not like someone's smoking it,"
he said.
The Chicago City Council recently banned the lollipops. Doreen Arcus,
University of Massachusetts Lowell's associate professor of psychology, said
marketers shrewdly make the marijuana theme alluring. "You worry
about it being a gateway when it's marketed to a child," she said.
But Steven Trachtenberg, president of ICUP, defended Pot Suckers, calling them
strictly a "novelty item" aimed at the demographic group targeted by
his retail outlet, Spencer Gifts, 18- to 24-year-olds.
So why stop distributing them? "It's a company decision," he said,
adding the suggestion that ICUP yielded to political pressure.
He declined to say how many Pot Suckers were sold or how much revenue they
generated. By his account, Pot Suckers was his company's only candy.
It makes 100 products including T-shirts, games and shot glasses. ICUP
will continue its " Stonerware" line of marijuana-theme products such
as a chess set with a "bong king and queen," he said.
"We sell no paraphernalia. In my opinion we are doing nothing
wrong," said Trachtenberg.
However, he offered his belief that parents tend to overreact to matters
regarding their children, overprotect them and blame others for their failings.
Barbara Quish, Tewksbury mother of four children, ages 14 to 24, agreed with him
to a point.
She said parents, more than school, TV, video and other influences, are chiefly
responsible for shaping their children's behavior. Nevertheless, she
objects to the way Pot Suckers seems to make marijuana alluring. They
remind her of the chalk-colored candy cigarettes with the red tips that
generations of kids puffed and flicked. The confections perhaps paved the
way for real tobacco-smoking later on.
What irks Quish more than the lollipops' image are the ingredients -- laden with
sugar, corn syrup and six kinds of yellow, red and blue dyes. "I'm
into healthy things and this is all artificial," she said. For the
most part, parents and police haven't seen Pot Suckers around. "It
hasn't reached us yet but I think it's awful," said Keith Sheppard, a
Burlington police officer whose station isn't far from the Spencer Gifts shop at
Burlington Mall which sells the lollipops. "It advertises a child
product ( that leans ) toward an illegal substance. It's
incomprehensible." Ken Lavallee, Lowell police deputy superintendent, also
dislikes the product. "Personally I think it's a fad . .
. I don't think it will have an impact," he said. Spencer Gifts
spokeswoman Heather Golin said the 58-year-old New Jersey-based chain's decision
to sell Pot Suckers wasn't meant as an endorsement of marijuana or drug culture.
"This is just another flavor of candy -- like piA a colada or strawberry
daiquiri jelly beans," she said.
Asked about the highly-addictive warning, she called it
"tongue-in-cheek." Since it began selling Pot Suckers in August,
Spencer Gifts has sold well over 100,000 -- proof she said that the chain knows
its customers well. "Our core customers, the 18- to 24-year-olds,
love to be social, hang out with friends," she said.
She said she's fielded a few complaints but "not a lot."
"Obviously if a law is passed ( banning Pot Suckers )," she said,
"we will abide by it."
