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'Drug' lollies uproar
BY GRANT WOODWARD TRADING standards bosses are to push for the outlawing of "cannabis lollies" on sale in Leeds sweet shops.
Angry parents called for the sweets to be banned after spotting them on the shelves of several city shops.
But tests have shown the hemp lollipops are legal as they do not contain the active ingredient of cannabis, the narcotic chemical THC.
Officers from West Yorkshire Trading Standards will now be asking food watchdogs for a change in the law.
The service's Andrew Bibby said: "Results from the laboratory have shown that there are no active cannabis ingredients in the lollies.
"That means they are technically legal – but we don't feel they send out the right message.
"I will be telling the Food Standards Agency that there is nothing we can do about them, but they may want to look at this product with a view to amending legislation to making it illegal."
The sweets – which are bright green and come in tubs bearing cannabis leaf designs – are made in Germany.
Mr Bibby said those in West Yorkshire were supplied by a wholesaler in Bradford who has been asked to withdraw them from sale.
He said: "I have contacted him and we now know that they come from London.
"We need to trace them back to the importer and from there to the manufacturer."
Irresponsible
Anti-drugs campaigners branded the lollies "totally irresponsible".
Sally Robinson, from Leeds Drug Action Team, said: "Regardless of whether they contain cannabis or not, it is still wrong and very damaging.
"By and large it is eight and nine-year-olds who buy lollies and this sort of thing could give drugs some sort of credibility in their eyes."
grant.woodward@ypn.co.uk
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Friday 25 May 2012
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