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New Law Would Double Pot Brownie Jail Time

By Jason Beahm on August 05, 2010 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Thinking about taking a batch of your favorite, secret recipe pot brownies to sell at a concert? If a new Senate bill introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein becomes law, you might want to think twice. If you get caught selling them to someone under 18, you could be looking at twice the typical penalty. You should probably think twice on the pot brownie anyway, as you're going to end up eating them and spending the concert drooling on yourself until you pass out in the lawn.

The new bill is called the Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act of 2009, and it would double the penalties for people who sell marijuana mixed with sweet substances to minors. While to many it might sound ridiculous to increase penalties simply for mixing a drug with a legal substance, the bill has the support of pro-legalization group NORML, which stands for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

NORML supports the bill because, as an organization, they support not only the legalization of marijuana but its responsible use and sale. They do not believe that selling laced baked goods to minors is a responsible form of marijuana use. Further, having increased penalties for mixtures of drugs is not new. Crack-cocaine has been penalized on an exceedingly higher level than powder cocaine despite containing no additional mind altering chemicals.

Edible marijuana is a very significant part of the multi-billion dollar medical marijuana industry, says NORML director Allen St.Pierre. And some people cross the line, especially in advertising, he says to CBS.

The bill would double penalties for anyone who makes or sells marijuana that is mixed with or made into candy, marketed or packaged like candy, and modified by flavoring or coloring with the intent to distribute it to a person under 18. The law was apparently originally targeted at penalizing crystal meth that comes in candy flavors.

Under the penalties section of the law, any person who violates the law would be subject to double the maximum punishment and at least double the probation period.

The law would exempt any controlled substance that has been approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services or that has been altered at the direction of a medical practitioner for a legitimate medical purpose.

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