These sweets aren’t for kids
DOWNTOWN From lollipops to high-sugar sodas, law enforcement officials say they are finding methamphetamines cut with a variety of candies, drinks and other materials, making the “designer meth” easier to sell to kids, who may mistake it for Pop Rocks or other tasty treats.
While the drug has not made its way into Santa Monica, narcotics officers are aware that it exists and are keeping an eye out for the deceptively-packaged, and highly-addic-tive stimulant, said SMPD Lt. Alex Padilla.
“We have primarily seen it up north,” Padilla said, referring to Northern California.“We are being kept informed as it makes its way around. So far we have not seen it here yet.”
An e-mail about the drug was circulated recently by law enforcement agencies including the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department and the California Highway Patrol. The e-mail said the meth “smells like strawberry … and it is being handed out to kids in school yards… It also comes in chocolate, peanut butter, cherry, grape and orange — It looks just like Pop Rocks.”
Officials with the DEA said mixing the meth with candy or strawberry-flavored drink mix can smooth the chemically rough ingestion of the drug, making it easier for first-time users to try.
“It’s all about hooking young people, and we have to stop this practice before it grows any further.” — Feinstein said
“This bill will 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,”
Because of its chemical properties, meth easily mixes into any water-based liquid. Caffeinated, high-sugar energy drinks and sodas often litter areas where meth cookers manufacture the drug, sometimes used as a chaser to the stimulant, authorities said.
“Strawberry Quick,” as it is also called, first surfaced in large numbers in January, after the Nevada Department of Public Safety issued a bulletin describing the new substance. Since then, DEA agents have heard reports of the flavored meth appearing in Missouri, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
Authorities said that by cutting the drug, dealers are trying to make it not only more appealing to youth, but also make it seem less dangerous.
“Traffickers are out there and are trying to sell it to customers, whether they are young customers or older, brand-new customers by changing the color or the taste or just giving it a less-intimidating name, they are trying to make it seem less dangerous and lure this new customer base,” Steve Robertson, a spokesman for the DEA said in an interview with CBS News.
The drug has lawmakers alarmed. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Ca, introduced legislation in April to increase penalties for drug dealers who entice children with the candy-flavored speed.
The Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act would apply criminal penalty enhancements to anyone who “manufactures, creates, distributes or possesses with intent to distribute a controlled substance that is flavored, colored, packaged or otherwise altered in a way that is designed to make it more appealing to a person under 21 years of age, or who attempts or conspires to do so.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 5, 2007. Read the original PDF.