Children are easily able to purchase illegal drugs disguised as sweets online, North Yorkshire Police has warned.
The force told parents to be “aware” of the increasing number of young people in possession of ‘edibles’, which look similar to well-known sweets but contain illegal drugs.
The Sun Online reported that it found drug-infused ‘Nerds Rope’ sweets for sale on the internet containing up to 6,000mg of cannabis for as little as £42 a pack.
‘Easily obtained’
North Yorkshire PC Lauren Green warned: “They can look very similar to well-known sweets such as Haribo, Smarties and chocolate bars. Edibles can be laced with illegal drugs such as cannabis and MDMA.”
She added: “They are available to buy on the internet and so could easily be obtained by young people”.
MDMA is another name for Ecstasy, a Class-A drug.
Social media
Earlier this month, a BBC investigation revealed that one in four young people is seeing advertisements for illegal drugs “everywhere on social media”.
Jim Connolly, a reporter for Radio 1 Newsbeat, created Snapchat and Instagram accounts and searched for key phrases. Within minutes, he had been repeatedly offered drugs for sale.
Children caught with drugs at school up 27 per cent