There were 183 overdose deaths in sa国际传媒 last month, but don鈥檛 worry because the RCMP is going after public enemy number one: counterfeit snacks.
听
The BC RCMP was proud to announce that a massive amount of THC and psilocybin candies were seized from Vancouver Island dispensaries early in October.
Over 120,000 cannabis edibles; three kilograms of magic mushrooms and thousands of other psilocybin products; 2.2 pounds of resin; 500 pounds of bud; 19 pounds of shatter; 5,000 vape cartridges; five vehicles; two ATMs with cash inside; $400,000 cash; a shotgun; and 82,000 packs of cigarettes.
I feel safer knowing a shotgun was taken off the streets, but 鈥撎齡iven the ongoing opioid crisis thatsa国际传媒 killing hundreds of British Columbians every month 鈥 I can鈥檛 help but wonder if raiding pot shops was the best use of police resources.
Most people don鈥檛 want gangs running amok, and organized crime must have been involved with the counterfeit candy scheme considering the scale of the operation. But among all the dirty business happening through the black market 鈥 guns, money laundering, pimps, drugs that are actually lethal 鈥 how did contraband cannabis become a priority?
Since we鈥檙e only allowed to buy weed gummies off the government, itsa国际传媒 easy to see why theresa国际传媒 a niche for the gangs 鈥撎齮he legal pot shops are selling mild doses for top dollar, packaged as if theresa国际传媒 a biohazard inside. Plus tax.
Some consumers prefer the stronger stuff that costs way less.
But forget simple economics 鈥 the RCMP wants the public to know the candy was made in 鈥渉ighly unsanitary, and heavily contaminated modular trailers,鈥 according to the media release.
鈥淎 preliminary assessment of the edibles also indicates that they had been treated with unknown amounts of THC, and likely cross-contaminated with other drugs and substances present in the trailers where they were being produced and packaged. Of equal concern were that counterfeit snacks with packaging claims of possessing medicinal properties, and dangerously high drug potency values, with many of the candy wrap labels claiming to be one-hundred times more potent than regulated cannabis products.鈥
I appreciate the RCMPsa国际传媒 concern, but considering how it was a criminal offence to smoke a joint less than eight years ago, I鈥檓 still not ready to heed any marijuana warnings from the police. Back in the day, during prohibition, my friends and I baked special brownies several times without any way of measuring the potency, yet we managed to survive despite any government oversight.
However, my brownies never infringed upon copyright laws. Whereas if I made thousands of 鈥淒ope Henrys鈥 and 鈥淩eefers鈥 with packaging thatsa国际传媒 nearly identical to brand-name chocolate bars 鈥撎齀 could see why a big corporation like The Hershey Company might contact the authorities with concerns about intellectual property rights. Good money was spent on branding and marketing real 鈥淥h Henrys鈥 and 鈥淩eeces鈥 peanut butter cups 鈥 then some crinimal organization wantonly rips them off and openly sells their THC version at retail stores. Pretty brazen.
Did our corporate overlords decide it was time for the RCMP to crack the whip on the candy crew? Or is the RCMP genuinely concerned about the potency of marijuana after watching fentanyl users drop like flies over the past decade?
People get too high on weed quite often. It may result in a bad trip but life goes on. The consequences are not fatal.
And police officers know better than anybody how softcore weed is. They deal with crimes much more sordid than bootleg candy operations. But when they use terms like 鈥渃ounterfeit snacks鈥 as if they鈥檙e lightweights who鈥檝e never gotten a taste of the pleasure, they don鈥檛 come across as the experts they are.
