Big Candy, vilified in the wellness era as a primary source of refined sugar, has become an unlikely sheriff in the Wild West of recreational marijuana as candy-makers face products like Stoney Patch Kids, Buttafingazzz and Caribo Happy Cola.
Big Candy Is Angry
As more states legalize recreational cannabis, Wrigley and others are suing over look-alike THC treats. They’re protecting their brands and also, they argue, your kids.
Credit.Phil Marden
May 22, 2021Updated 6:24 a.m. ET
At first glance, the Skittles package appears to be just like the one sold in the candy aisle of a supermarket: It has block letters filled in with white, a flowing rainbow and a red candy that replaces the dot above the letter “i.”
A closer look reveals some small differences: a background pattern of small, stylized marijuana leaves; a warning label; and numbers that reveal the amount of THC, the intoxicating substance in cannabis, in each piece of candy.
Big Candy Is Angry nytimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nytimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Chuck Muth, President, Citizen Outreach
Well, another Valentine’s Day has come and gone, but not without the usual attack by Big Candy’s sweet-talkers on America’s sugar farmers.
Ross Marchand of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance weighed in with a weekend column calling to “end the not-so-sweet sugar program” and urging President Biden to “cut out this confectionary con job.”
Mr. Marchand’s column is filled with de rigueur misinformation about the U.S. sugar program, including the false claim that sugar farmers in America receive government subsidies and that targeted restrictions on certain foreign imports “create an unlevel playing field” for domestic candy manufacturers.
By Chuck Muth, President, Citizen Outreach
Writing post-election, the Mish Talk blog asked: “How Will Biden Differ from Trump on Trade and China Policy?”
“Trade was not a key subject in the debates,” Mish noted. “So what do we expect of Biden?”
Mish went on to examine a host of international trade issues – including Free Trade Deals, Trade Promotion Authority, Domestic Reshoring, China, Bilateral Trade Relationships and WTO Reform.
He also took a shot at U.S. sugar policy…
“The irony in all of this is that next to France, the US is the most protectionist country on agricultural policy. Look no further than the sugar lobby… It makes no sense to drive US candy manufacturers out of the US over sky high sugar prices.”