Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) has decided to remove a snack containing hemp flour from vending machines in the city-state.
The CNB ordered the company supplying the Piranha Power Pack to remove it from vending machines and warned anyone who purchased the snack to dispose of it immediately.
The product is said to contain nuts, seeds and crisps and is believed to also contain hemp seed flour.
“Did you know that Cannabis Sativa is the botanical name for the hemp plant? You read that right: hemp is cannabis,” notes a CNB post on Facebook. “This means that all proteins, fibers, seeds, oils… of hemp that are derived from the hemp plant are derived from the Cannabis Sativa plant. »
Singapore has a zero-tolerance approach to drug offences, which is among the toughest in the world. All cannabis use in the country is banned, although since 2019 at least two little girls have been allowed to import Epidiolex, a pharmaceutical CBD oil, to treat their epilepsy.
The CNB states that “despite product labels stating otherwise, any product derived from the cannabis sativa plant or its seeds may contain controlled drugs such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive chemical in cannabis that gives users the sensation of “hovering”.
Although not specifically targeting the snack in question, the CNB reports that “numerous reports have been made of adverse health effects related” to THC consumption.
That said, the agency “wishes to remind importers, retailers and members of the public that any product containing hemp derivatives should not be imported, supplied or offered for sale etc. “.
“The CNB asked the company that had imported the product to withdraw it from sale. Investigations by the CNB are ongoing,” the agency reports.
