Cops Say Hershey's Candy Looks Like Coke
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) #8213; The Hershey Company is under fire for making a product that law enforcement says resembles crack cocaine.
When Philadelphia narcotics officers first saw the breath mints, called Ice Breakers, they actually ordered a field test to determine its contents because the package looked so much like illegal drugs.
Even veteran narcotics officers acknowledged that they could not tell difference between a package of crack cocaine and the breath mints package when placed side by side.
"It is an exact replication what you see on the street, from the color, to the texture, to the substance itself," Chief Inspector Bill Blackburn explained.
Police fear the similarities between the newly released mints and the long-time packaging of deadly drugs could put children in danger.
"We could have a real tragedy, that child could consume that product thinking that it was candy," Blackburn said.
When shown the package, a parent in the Bridesburg section of Philadelphia was shocked.
"It looks like dope to me," the woman said.
Linda Wagner, a Philadelphia narcotics officer whose teenage daughter Krystal died of a drug overdose, is shocked that Hershey would market such a product.
"I just couldn't believe that such a large company would be so irresponsible to put out a product that resembles drugs," Officer Wagner said.
Officer Wagner, who teaches drug awareness in her daughter's memory, believes the only answer is to change the product or take it off store shelves.
"To have a company that produces a product like this, you feel defeated," Officer Wagner said.
The Hershey Company, in an e-mail to CBS station KYW-TV in Philadelphia, said in part: " . feedback from consumers is that they love the product . The product is clearly labeled with product identification . The Ice Breakers logo appears on each individual mint for easy identification."
Yet nobody yells at pop rocks for Strawberry Quik drugs.
When Philadelphia narcotics officers first saw the breath mints, called Ice Breakers, they actually ordered a field test to determine its contents because the package looked so much like illegal drugs.
Even veteran narcotics officers acknowledged that they could not tell difference between a package of crack cocaine and the breath mints package when placed side by side.
"It is an exact replication what you see on the street, from the color, to the texture, to the substance itself," Chief Inspector Bill Blackburn explained.
Police fear the similarities between the newly released mints and the long-time packaging of deadly drugs could put children in danger.
"We could have a real tragedy, that child could consume that product thinking that it was candy," Blackburn said.
When shown the package, a parent in the Bridesburg section of Philadelphia was shocked.
"It looks like dope to me," the woman said.
Linda Wagner, a Philadelphia narcotics officer whose teenage daughter Krystal died of a drug overdose, is shocked that Hershey would market such a product.
"I just couldn't believe that such a large company would be so irresponsible to put out a product that resembles drugs," Officer Wagner said.
Officer Wagner, who teaches drug awareness in her daughter's memory, believes the only answer is to change the product or take it off store shelves.
"To have a company that produces a product like this, you feel defeated," Officer Wagner said.
The Hershey Company, in an e-mail to CBS station KYW-TV in Philadelphia, said in part: " . feedback from consumers is that they love the product . The product is clearly labeled with product identification . The Ice Breakers logo appears on each individual mint for easy identification."
Yet nobody yells at pop rocks for Strawberry Quik drugs.
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How exactly were the people at Hershey's supposed to know what crack looks like? 0 -
so does ivory soap if you cut it up
quote:Even veteran narcotics officers acknowledged that they could not tell difference between a package of crack cocaine and the breath mints package when placed side by side.
thats not saying much, locals here once arrested a lady for growing pot, they arrested her, and cut down here okra it made front page news, when i was in high school a kid i knew and his brother had their house raided for selling a joint, they brought in a dog to aid in the search, he hit on a bale of pot in the closet, they where ecstatic, yelling and high fives, then they opened up the bag to find a christmas tree, yes i knew the brothers, and one of the cops personally0 -
so do macademia (sp) nuts 0 -
Oh my god!
More children in danger?
That seems to be how we sell everything in this country...0 -
That's silly. Crack cocaine doesn't come in pretty little containers. [;)] 
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i'm just glad they've never seen flour, i really like a good bread 0 -
It probably does now.
Doug0 -
quote:Originally posted by Spider7115
That's silly. Crack cocaine doesn't come in pretty little containers. [;)]
Since when is crack round with blue specks? You can see by the picture that it looks like a mint.0 -
quote:Originally posted by sav99
quote:Originally posted by Spider7115
That's silly. Crack cocaine doesn't come in pretty little containers. [;)]
Since when is crack round with blue specks? You can see by the picture that it looks like a mint.
well you see one of them complaining got caught with a real crack rock, when asked what it was he replied "breath mint" and popped the evidence in his mouth thus starting the witch hunt without any further investigation0 -
POST A PIC I HAVE NEVER SEEN THE STUFF 0 -
man that sure looks like a breath mint to me {ya if i where a crackhead0 -
So that explains why my mints always do more than than freshin my breath. 0 -
darn i guess my AJAX scam will have to come to an end[:D]
thx cheech and chong: up in smoke[:D][:D]0 -
the ones in question are different than pictured above, you be the judge
http://cbs3.com/topstories/Hersheys.Company.Breath.2.599816.html
my question is if a child could mistake real drugs for these mints there are much bigger issues at work, like how the heck they would get access to it, and out of the crackheads i've seen the crack is not around long enough, and their sure as hell not sharing, i think the real issue lying underneath is the police themselves may have a problem distinguishing the two, but it is always more honorable to bring the kid factor in on it0 -
Now who would expect corporate officers to know what crack looks like? 0 -
those packets do look pretty close to the same 0 -
Officer Wagner, who teaches drug awareness in her daughter's memory, believes the only answer is to change the product or take it off store shelves.
Moron. There's another answer. Take the dope off the street, or legalize/decriminalize it.0 -
This story seems a lot like gun owners. Law enforcement points blame at the law abiding people with legal products. Its just to bad they don't put all their resources in catching criminals instead of worrying what the good guys are doing. 0
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