For years we’ve kept our extra oregano and tarragon fresh by sealing it in mini zip lock sandwich bags while our overflow coarse sea salt is put in a small glass container next to the salt grinder. If Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector William Blackburn ever finds out about our spice storage habits its likely that we too will accused of glorifying the drug trade.
According to Philadelphia Police officials Ice Breakers Pacs, a new mint being sold by The Hershey Company, look striking similar to the heat-sealed bags used to package and distribute illegal drugs like crack, heroine and cocaine. The Ice Breakers are not actually powdered smack, but rather dissolvable pouches with a powdered sweetener inside bearing the Ice Breaker’s logo.
Chief Blackburn’s concerns are that a harmless Ice Breaker Pac so strongly resembles a drug packet that a child familiar with the candy could mistakenly ingest a heat-sealed package of drugs. "It glorifies the drug trade," Blackburn said. "There's really no reason that a product like this should be on the shelf." Hershey representative Kirk Saville responded by saying, "It is not intended to simulate anything.”
Not to disparage what may be a legitimate yet far-fetched concern about children and the accidental overdose of drugs that look like breath-fresheners, but a parent’s choice of mint should really take a back seat to the much larger concern that these parents have heat-sealed packets of cocaine readily accessible to their children.
An outcome of this unfortunate resemblance not being discussed is that it could quite possibly cause confusion and distrust in the drug community itself among users and dealers alike. “I don’t know about this last score. My breath smells cool and minty, but I’m just not getting the same rush.” And besides, why should Hershey have to change their packaging? They’re the legitimate business; the authorities should be going after the dealers to change the way they package their drugs.
We may just have to hope that the addict parents of these at-risk children are smart enough not to put Ice Breaker Pacs and their heat-sealed freebase in the same candy dish. But what if the proposed removal of Ice Breaker Pacs from the shelves under the pretext of child protection is just the tip of the iceberg? Altoids look like Oxicontin pills, Tic Tacs look like Vicodin, Mentos look like Percocet! Get into rehab and padlock the medicine cabinet.
This is just too stressful for me. Maybe I’ll make some pasta sauce and chill out for a little bit.
