Pubdate: Thu, 14 Jul 2005 Source: Lowell Sun (MA) Contact: 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) PARENTS, POLICE NOT HIGH ON 'MARIJUANA' LOLLIPOPS 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." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom