'Toka-Cola' (Updated 3/3/07)

Marijuana ring busts turn up drug-laced candy and 'Toka-Cola'

Fri Mar 17, 3:36 AM ET

OAKLAND, United States (AFP) - US federal agents that busted a marijuana ring were disturbed to find pot-laced candy and soft drinks potentially tempting to children, officials said.

Marijuana-infused treats and beverages were seized during a series of raids at indoor pot farms that netted 12 arrests, according to Javier Pena, a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Confiscated items reportedly bore labels including Stoney Ranchers, Munchy Way, Rasta Reece's, Buddafingers, Pot Tarts, Double Puff Oreo, Keef Kat, Twixed, Budtella, Puff-A-Mint Pattie, Puffsi, Bong's Root Beer, and Toka-Cola.

"In a way, this case sort of answers the question 'What will they think of next?'," Pena said.

"What so many people don't realize is that innocent children will somehow get their hands on these products and think they are just normal candy or soft drinks - making this action not only illegal, but potentially tragic."

DEA agents began the investigation in 2005, after getting word that Kenneth Affolter was running an Oakland business, Beyond Bomb, that made marijuana candy mimicking the appearance and mocking the names of popular brands.

DEA agents searched Affolter's home in the town of Lafayette and at four warehouses in the cities of Oakland and Emeryville, east of San Francisco, according to DEA agent Casey McEnry.

Thousands of plants were reportedly found in what agents described as "sophisticated indoor marijuana grows" in the warehouses.

The plants were seized along with guns and a large amount of cash, according to Pena.

Affolter, 39, and the others were arrested on suspicion of illegal distribution of marijuana, according to McEnry.

US federal agents that busted a marijuana ring in California were disturbed to find pot-laced candy and soft drinks potentially tempting to children. Picture shows a field of cannabis in Morocco(AFP/File/Abdelhak Senna)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/2006031...5eUIjGs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3NW1oMDRpBHNlYwM3NTc-

that's pretty cool. i doubt i'd ever be able to get my hands on anything like that in australia though. if i did i'd just save it and sell it to someone in 20 years.

is this the first lot of weed chocolate and soda? i wonder if they had cool lables...that would make things look pretty tight...some stoner with a packing factory.

US federal agents that busted a marijuana ring were disturbed to find pot-laced candy and soft drinks potentially tempting to children, officials said.

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yeeeeahh right, everyone knows kids don't go for the knock-off brands!

That's funny.

nice, so wait were they just weed flavored or did it actually have some active content

What about the children!!! 8( I knew as soon as I saw the headline about cannabis candy i knew someone would be mentioning the menace to children these candies would be. i do agree the knock off labeling could fool someone.. though the gold packaging might alert you there is something different about your milky way.

I'm guessing these products were sold mainly in the local cannabis clubs... i'd be crazy to go to your local dealer and see this kind of stuff, though i suppose it does happen

WTF! i thought they would be ghetto looking chocolates. great presentation and packaging! those are just so awesome.

hopefully one day i'll see these in stores, if they ever legalize it that is.

http://cbs5.com/watercooler/local_story_075201033.html

worst candy store job ever; if you get hungry you can't just throw back a few pot-tarts. i'd get fired.

"What so many people don't realize is that innocent children will somehow get their hands on these products and think they are just normal candy or soft drinks - making this action not only illegal, but potentially tragic."


Because of all the people that died using marijuana? Or I guess to anyone with a stick up their ass, a child 'getting high' off those candies would be a 'tragedy'.


Anyways, those look pretty good. "3 Rastateers" that's pretty funny.

Bitter fight over sweet pot treats
Drug agents fear candies appeal to kids -- medical marijuana users insist they're legal
- Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, March 18, 2006

They had colorful labels and names such as Trippy, Stoney Rancher, Toka-Cola, Pot Tart and Budtella.

To federal drug agents, they were dangerous marijuana-laced concoctions that could fall into the hands of children. But to sick patients who rely on cannabis to ease their symptoms, they were just tasty ways to get their medicine -- and legal under California law.

Federal agents who converged on several of what they called "marijuana candy factories" in the East Bay on Thursday seized hundreds of sodas and candies laced with marijuana in what they said was the largest bust of its kind on the West Coast.

Authorities say the drug is illegal no matter what form it takes, especially marijuana candy products that mimic mainstream candies and are attractive to youths.

But angry medical-marijuana patients said Friday that investigators are blowing smoke and that the raids in Oakland and Emeryville on Thursday are just the latest proof that federal investigators are running roughshod over local and state laws that allow for medicinal cannabis use.

In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, which allows the use of marijuana for medical purposes with a doctor's recommendation. Despite the law, authorities -- from the California Highway Patrol to the Drug Enforcement Administration -- have pounced on local marijuana-growing operations in the Bay Area, including locations in San Francisco and Sonoma County in December.

The candy-factory raids are the latest crackdown.

"I think the government is once again trying to create terror through our community," said Angel Raich, 40, of Oakland, who uses the drug to treat pain, nausea and seizures associated with a brain tumor and a wasting syndrome. "I do know for a fact that medical-cannabis candy and those kinds of products are in the dispensaries, and patients do use them."

Rick Steeb, 55, of San Jose, who uses marijuana to treat the pain from glaucoma, said he's "never seen (the candy) outside the dispensaries. It's not like they were being sold in convenience stores."

But Special Agent Casey McEnry, spokeswoman for the DEA, the agency that conducted this week's raids, said Friday that marijuana "is a violation of federal law in this form and in the smoked form. Even though there may be claims that these weren't meant for kids, the packaging may suggest otherwise."

The alleged ringleader, Kenneth Affolter, 39, of Lafayette, six other men and five women appeared Friday before U.S. Magistrate Bernard Zimmerman in San Francisco and were ordered held without bail pending a hearing next week.

Affolter, whose nickname is "Kena," operated Beyond Bomb, a manufacturer of the marijuana treats, from adjoining warehouses at xxxx and xxxx xxxx xxxx Ave. and xxxx xxxxxx St. in Emeryville, DEA Special Agent William Armstrong wrote in an affidavit unsealed Friday.

Investigators learned that a $3,913 PG&E balance for a month's period covered all three locations and was billed to Affolter, Armstrong wrote.

Affolter is listed as president of Clear Soap, which is under suspension for failing to pay state taxes, DEA Special Agent Jason Chin wrote in an affidavit. Affolter told Oakland police officers who responded to a silent alarm at one of the Yerba Buena warehouses last month that "he made soaps and candles," agents wrote.

Marijuana candies have been around for at least five years, cannabis users say. But raids of these products only began recently.

In May, police seized Beyond Bomb products from Compassionate Caregivers, a medical-marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles. In July, DEA agents seized Beyond Bomb candies from a San Lorenzo home.

Oakland's Compassionate Caregivers Club at 1740 Telegraph Ave., which Affolter used as a marijuana-cultivation site, was also searched as part of this week's raids, which netted up to 5,000 marijuana plants and $150,000 in cash, authorities said.

At the Telegraph Avenue site, agents found more than 100 marijuana plants, authorities said. Growers there wore identical gray, short-sleeve collared shirts and white lab coats, Armstrong wrote.

Employees also meticulously tracked their work hours on time cards, affidavits said.

Affolter's attorney, Robert Byers of Oakland, said Friday that it was unfair for authorities to claim that children could end up eating Beyond Bomb's creations.

"They know it's not marketed for kids," Byers said. "They're only seen in the context of people who use medical marijuana. A sweet, nice-tasting product is certainly going to benefit them."

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[edit: removed addresses -- ff]

Young kids wouldn't eat that shit. They would see the extract numbers and the weird names and freak out. Myself on the the other hand, would be the first case of a THC overdose if i got my hands on them.

the drink would have to be milk based ?

I want that candy :D

Carl Landrover said:

"What so many people don't realize is that innocent children will somehow get their hands on these products and think they are just normal candy or soft drinks - making this action not only illegal, but potentially tragic."


Because of all the people that died using marijuana? Or I guess to anyone with a stick up their ass, a child 'getting high' off those candies would be a 'tragedy'.

Click to expand...

Because ten year olds always make great safety desisions when their sober. AND ten year olds know how to handle themselves when their high.


And a curious kid would wonder what the hell this new candy is and eat to find out. Werid names and extract nubmers wouldn't mean anything.

The candy is a decent Idea and I am guessing the guy only sold to adult stoners and didn't sell them in bulk to retailers. If he sold ot dealers their would be a danger, other wise it would have to be a careless stoner parent.

At the risk of sounding unpopular here, I think this stoner candy is stupid and was bound to get busted. It's one thing to make these products and even to distribute them, but he took it to a whole other realm by whipping up those fake labels, and even being stupid and cheesy about the way he named the shit. "Puffsi" instead of Pepsi? 3 Rastateers? Stoney Ranchers? Pardon me while I vomit at the juvenility of it all...

Sorry to say it, but an operation like that deserved to get busted.

***EDIT*** I just noticed the Trichrome Crunch. It's "trichome", not "trichRome." He couldn't even get his spoofs right.

so now the federal government did this bust and scared the community into hastily passing a law banning these candies?

Pot candy operation brings 5 guilty pleas
By Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, September 27, 2006

The ringleader of an Oakland group that made marijuana-laced candy and soft drinks resembling popular confections pleaded guilty Tuesday and agreed to serve 70 months in prison, authorities said.

Kenneth Affolter, 39, of Lafayette admitted that under the product name Beyond Bomb, he made a range of pot-laced treats with names like Buddahfingers, Munchy Way, Rasta Reece's and Puff-a-Mint Pattie, authorities said.

At a hearing in Oakland, Affolter pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge D. Lowell Jensen to a single count of conspiring to manufacture and distribute marijuana.

Four of Affolter's former employees and co-defendants also entered guilty pleas before Jensen. Amy Teresa Arata of Oakland and Jesse Monko of Walnut Creek both admitted to performing supervisory roles in Affolter's marijuana operation. Each pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy counts and agreed to serve 18-month prison terms. Jaime Alvarez-Lopez and Elizabeth Ramirez, both of Mexico, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor marijuana offenses, and each agreed to serve a year in prison.

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Why are they worried about children finding these anyways?

I already do drugs and can't find anything like this.


I'd imagine they wouldn't taste like the candy normally does.

haters. this does sound liek something pretty big tho if the dude opened a corporation for it , let God be with him and all others dragged down by these bullshit prohibition laws.