Pubdate: Tue, 04 Feb 2014 Source: USA Today (US) Copyright: 2014 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/625HdBMl Website: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/index.htm Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466 Author: Trevor Hughes Page: 3A DEMAND IS HIGH FOR FOODS WITH POT Denver - Would you like those pot brownies in regular or gluten-free? Retailers across Colorado are baking, injecting, spraying and infusing marijuana into every conceivable food as they race to meet demand for edible pot. Pot brownies are perhaps the best-known form, but you can buy marijuana-infused foods ranging from candy to cookies, olive oil, granola bars, chocolate truffles and spaghetti sauce. "You name it, it's being made," says Julie Postlethwait of Colorado's Division of Marijuana Enforcement. Retail marijuana sales became legal in Colorado on Jan. 1, and shop owners say they've been surprised at how strong the edibles market has been. They credit anti-smoking campaigns with turning first-time pot buyers into edibles advocates. Eating a cookie or sucking on a mint is more discreet than smoking, especially for parents worried about going home from a party reeking of pot. "The smell is a big one," says Coit Stevenson, 28, of Denver, who has tried edibles and smoking. He prefers smoking but says edibles are a good alternative, especially for first-time users. Sales by Denver-based Dixie Elixirs and Edibles jumped from about 10% of the pre-Jan. 1 medical marijuana market to about 50% of the recreational market, says Joe Hodas, the company's chief marketing officer. To make edibles, bakers extract THC - tetrahydrocannabinol, the active chemical ingredient - from marijuana plants, usually suspending it in an oil, and then incorporate that into food. Experts say edibles tend to give a slightly different kind of "high" for users, because the THC is absorbed and processed into the bloodstream through the stomach and digestive system instead of the lungs. The high takes longer to kick in and tends to last longer, Hodas says. A study last year in JAMA Pediatrics found a spike in the number of young children treated for accidentally eating pot in marijuana-laced cookies, candies and beverages at Children's Hospital Colorado. In the two years after marijuana laws were liberalized in fall 2009, 14 kids were treated for accidental ingestion; in the four years before, none. "It's not just baked goods - it's candy and soda. They're doctoring regular food items," says Gina Carbone, a former PTA president and mother of four. She worries regulations don't do enough. "We feel like there are a lot of safeguards that are not being put in place to protect our kids." - --- MAP posted-by: Matt