Cannabis gummies black market booms in Australia as demand for illegal lollies grows

They look like kids’ lollies and are being eaten in plain sight but he demand for the popular jellies is driving a booming black market despite risk of jail sentences.

Cannabis or weed gummy bears are being openly sold online in Australia and on social media platforms. Picture: Istock

They look like kids’ lollies and are being passed around and eaten in plain sight.

But the popular brightly-coloured jellies flooding homes and nightclubs are illegal, unless prescribed by a doctor, and the demand is driving a booming black market around the country.

Cannabis or weed gummy bears are being openly sold online in Australia and on social media platforms.

Australian Border Force officers have confiscated shipments coming into the country, warning people they face jail sentences for importing the gummies.

Pennington Institute chief executive officer John Ryan. Picture: Supplied

Experts warn they are one of the most popular edibles available in the ever expanding billion-dollar cannabis industry and teenagers are known to be buying and onselling the gummies.

However, not a lot is known about the extent of the gummy market in Australia.

John Ryan, chief executive officer of the Penington Institute, a drug policy think tank, said part of the problem is that the issue has so far been under the radar and under documented.

Mr Ryan said the online markets have transformed the way drugs are moved and led to a massive proliferation on social platforms.

But he believes that ”demand is the issue rather than the supply”.

Confused federal laws around the supply of gummies and other edible cannabis products have led to perceptions they are “legal”.

Weed gummies advertised as strawberry lemonade flavour can be bought at $53 for 300mg bag. It is not known what the THC content is.

Mango tangerine gummies with an advertised content of 10mg of THC are being sold at $18.25 for five.

Paul Dillon from Drug and Alcohol Research and Training. Picture: Supplied

There are two types of gummies, some which have CBD oil which is not intoxicating and used for medical purposes. Others, which are the most popular on the black market, contain THC, the active ingredient in cannabis which gives a high. Both can be prescribed by doctors in certain circumstances.

Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia (DARTA) spokesman Paul Dillon – who advises schools on drug and alcohol related issues – said a bunch of Year 7 students recently had a “nasty” experience with edible weed gummies after a student took a packet from an older sibling and shared them with his friends.

“The 12-year-olds, completely unprepared for the experience, became quite unwell and were rushed to hospital with teachers believing it was food poisoning,” he said.

Mr Dillon said the gummies can take up to three hours to take effect and, because of the delay, consumers end up eating more and overdosing, which can lead to severe anxiety, panic attacks, nausea and, in more extreme cases, delirium or psychosis.

In 2020, the American Association of Poison Control Centers reported more than 3000 exposures to edible cannabis products involving children 12 and younger. Most of those exposures were in children aged five years old or younger.

Police across the country have warned anyone driving with any level of THC in their system, even from prescription medication, is committing a crime. THC can stay in the blood stream for days and sometimes weeks.

Originally published as Cannabis gummies black market booms in Australia as demand for illegal lollies grows