Black market medical marijuana in cartoon packages is targeted at kids, sheriff says

The Sedgwick County Sheriff is urging parents to watch for illegal THC vape in the Wichita area after some of the drug was seized in the county.

Sheriff Jeff Easter said deputies have seized THC-infused vape cartridges intended for medicinal marijuana use that have been smuggled into Kansas. He said parents should be concerned about their children replacing their regular vape juice with the THC vape.

“This is not the same type of marijuana that maybe you as a parent, or your parents or your grandparents, smoked,” Easter said at a Thursday press conference. “Marijuana in those days contained 3-15 percent THC.”

The THC vapes seized in the past three weeks by Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office deputies contain 1 gram of liquid with 80-90 percent THC. Witnesses have told local law enforcement that two puffs can cause first-time users to black out. The THC vape may also cause painful “scrommiting,” or screaming and vomiting at the same time, even for regular consumers of marijuana, Easter said.

Tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly known as THC, is the main active ingredient of cannabis.

While the THC vape is intended for medicinal use in California under the 420 bill, smugglers are targeting Kansas children, the sheriff said.

In the press conference at the Sedgwick County Jail, Easter showed media some of the evidence from an ongoing criminal investigation.

The colorful packaging of the vape was adorned with cartoon characters. There was the flavor “Lemon Skunk,” which had the Looney Tunes’ Pepe Le Pew. “Peaches and Dream” had Mario’s Princess Peach. Disney’s Goofy was on the package of the “Af goofy” flavor. “The Kosher Kush” flavor featured characters from “South Park.”

“There’s no doubt in our mind in law enforcement the packaging is geared toward kids,” Easter said. “What we’re being told is the people that they’re targeting are between that 15- to 23-year-old range. But don’t tell me that you put something out like this with 5, 6 and 7-year-olds with those kinds of cartoons on it that they’re not going to want to get a hold of it and see what it is or think it’s candy.”

The packages are labeled as child-proof, “but as we know, any 5-year-old can operate a pair of scissors,” Easter said. The packaging also includes the words “Cartoon Cartridges” and a percentage amount of THC.

The added flavoring masks the odor of marijuana, Easter said, which may make it difficult for parents to notice a smell different from regular vape juices their children may use. The cartridges, also known as “carts,” are intended to replace nicotine-laden and other juices used in vapes that are sold legally in Wichita.

“I guarantee you there’s kids that have been bringing this home or people bringing it home living with their parents and grandparents and they have no idea what it is,” Easter said. “We did check with some local hospitals, and they have seen some of these issues already where people are coming in with the screaming and vomiting part.”

The “scrommiting” condition is also known as cannabis hyperemesis syndrome.

The amount of THC in the vape cartridges is more than most marijuana products seized and tested by the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to statistics presented by the sheriff’s office.

Less than 1 percent of all marijuana seized by the DEA in 1995 contained greater than 12 percent THC. But in 2014, the most recent DEA statistics show, more than 40 percent of all seized marijuana contained over 12 percent THC. These vape cartridges contain 80-90 percent THC.

Citing the ongoing criminal investigation, Easter declined to say where exactly the drugs were seized. He said only that there was “a lot” of the THC vape cartridges.

Wichita police Deputy Chief Jose Salcido said his department has not yet come across these vape products, but police are “equally alarmed.”

“The illicit marijuana markets are feeding street level violence,” Salcido said. “They’re creating illicit power brokers that thrive and fund their activities through marijuana.

Easter said possessing or distributing the THC vapes in Kansas is illegal. He said it is not a non-violent crime.

“The sheriff’s office currently has two open homicides that was high-grade marijuana, which means high THC levels, where individuals went into both of these places to rob them of the money and of the marijuana and killed them,” Easter said.

“You can’t tell me that it’s not going to lead to violence, because it does, and it has for years here in the Wichita area.”

Easter warned that if Kansas legislators consider legalizing medical marijuana, they should consider what does and doesn’t work in other states.

“When we talk about recreational marijuana in California, Colorado, Washington and Illinois, when talking with those law enforcement officials, they’re having huge problems with this issue,” Easter said.

He said their laws are written “very poorly” and that the products have no quality control, dosage amounts or time limits like other prescribed narcotics.

“That’s a big topic this year, is the medicinal marijuana again in the Legislature, and we’ve got to make sure that we educate legislators of how it’s not working in these other places,” Easter said. “If they’re going to create legislation, then we’ve got to create good legislation that can regulate this kind of stuff.”

He also said that states lose out on tax money when marijuana products are sold illegally.

“You have to remember that there’s no taxes being collected on these items because they were sold out the back door in California or in Colorado — in our case it was out of California — on the black market for cash,” Easter said. “These items were then shipped to Sedgwick County for sale at a larger profit.”

Parents are asked to call 911 if they find their kids possessing illegal substances, the sheriff said.

This story was originally published January 24, 2019 at 4:36 PM.