Global Ganja Report

The US Senate last week approved a bill ostensibly aimed at toughening penalties for those who peddle pot brownies to minors. But the proposed law is actually far more sweeping, and will apply to those who simply bake brownies at home, doubling the penalties for the amount of cannabis involved.

The Saving Kids From Dangerous Drugs Act, pushed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), does not single out "pot brownies" in the text, but refers to any controled substances "combined with a candy product." According to Feinstein's office, it was meant in part to address the sale of "candy-flavored meth" and such cannabis-laced munchies as Rasta Reese's, 3 Rastateers and Munchy Way.

Feinstein said in a written statement that the bill is meant to send a "strong and clear message to drug dealers... If you target our children by peddling candy-flavored drugs, there will be a heavy price to pay." She warned: "New techniques and gimmicks to lure our kids into addiction are around every corner."

However, Feinstein spokesman Gil Duran tried to allay the fears of clinic operators. "If you're not selling drugs to kids, you don't have anything to worry about," he said.

Most activists are aghast at the bill. "It's a black eye on the Senate. It's a mark of shame," said Aaron Houston, director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

But Allen St.Pierre of NORML admitted that some some purveyors of cannabis edibles cross the line, especially in advertising. "It has a child-like appeal," he said of one ad for a line of multi-flavored cannabis ice-cream. "I don't think that was the notion of people who put out this ad, but that's what it looks like." (Fox News, Aug. 3, CBS, Aug. 2; Gawker, Aug. 1)

Photo from Canadian Cannabis