Cannabis News
Cannabis sweets being ‘sold to children as young as 8’
According to reports, cannabis sweets that look like Haribo and Skittles are widely sold to children on TikTok and Instagram.
Brightly coloured packets falsely labeled as popular sweet brands are highly attractive to younger people, police in southeast England have warned.
At least six children have been hospitalised after eating the sweets, including an eight-year-old.
Sky News reported that illegal sweets, known as gummies, are being sold openly on all the popular social media sites, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Snapchat.
THC is the chemical in weed that gives users a high, and these sweets contain high levels of it.
There is no association between them and the brands shown on the packaging of the sweets.
Cannabis sweets 'being eaten by boys and girls under 18'
Under-18 and secondary school-aged boys and girls are eating cannabis edibles, according to Detective Chief Inspector Rob Burns of the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU).
Gummies have worrying side effects such as loss of consciousness, according to him.
The detective said: “The way they are branded to look like sweets suggests they are being marketed at children, but worryingly also means that they could easily fall into the wrong hands.”
The police should be contacted immediately if anyone has information about the sale of gummies, or fears a child is being exploited.
Sky News reports that social media companies have strict policies prohibiting the sale and purchase of drugs, and actively monitor their platforms.
As part of an active effort to collaborate with the police, Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, said moderators removed 98 percent of content about gummies in the last quarter.
Accounts and search terms have now been banned on the social media sites, the firm said.
