Sour Patch or Stoney Patch?
Parents warned about pot edibles packaging
The Connecticut Attorney General’s Office has issued a warning to consumers about cannabis products packaged to look like snacks and candy, although a spokesperson said they haven’t received any complaints about these products.
Police may have received complaints, although none of them have communicated with Attorney General William Tong’s office about the issue, spokesperson Elizabeth Benton said in an email.
“The impetus for the consumer advisory was the spike in poison control reports involving children,” Benton wrote.
The Connecticut Poison Control Center received 88 calls in 2020 regarding child exposure to edible marijuana, and 58 calls in the first seven months of 2021, according to the attorney general’s news release on Tuesday.
“These look-alike cannabis products are unregulated, unsafe, and illegal,” Tong said in the release. “Accidental cannabis overdoses by children are increasing nationwide, and these products will only make this worse. While Connecticut recently legalized adult-use cannabis, many of these products fall far outside the range of what will ever be safe or authorized for sale.”
The American Association of Poison Control Centers reported its hotline received more than 2,600 calls regarding children ingesting cannabis products, according to the news release.
The attorney general said parents should ensure kids don’t have access to products containing cannabis and can call the Connecticut Poison Control Hotline at 800-222-1222 if they suspect their children have ingested the substance.
Connecticut wasn’t the only office to issue such a warning.
New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a similar warning Tuesday, concerning online sale of the products.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost also issued a news release on the topic, and warned parents against the treats winding up in Halloween bags. So did Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, earlier this month.
The warnings have included photos of the snacks. Tong’s consumer alert, along with others, included a photo of a box of “Double Stuf Stoneo,” which looks like a box of Oreos. It also had a box of “Stoney Patch,” which had similar packaging to Sour Patch Kids.
While the colors and fonts were similar to each of their snack counterparts, they both also had images of marijuana leaves prominently displayed on the packaging.
Tong’s news release didn’t mention Halloween.
Fears about children ingesting edibles close to the holiday have been around for years. In 2019, the nonprofit advocacy group Norml issued a blog post regarding the publicity around the issue.
“While parents should always check their kid’s candy to ensure safety, this is one threat that shouldn’t rank too highly on their list of Halloween scares,” the blog post read. “There are always a very small amount of troubled people in the world, but it is a minor threat that is getting easier and easier to prevent as states move away from the unregulated illicit markets of prohibition to legalized adult-use markets.”
Connecticut legalized adult-use recreational marijuana in the last legislative session. The law prohibits packaging that appeals to children.