Gummy bears that make you very (and dangerously) high: Dutchman arrested after finding drug lab in Barcelona | Abroad

According to the Spanish authorities, these are colorful sweets that contain a high concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is the main active ingredient in cannabis and causes users to get high. The effect of one candy is much greater than smoking a joint.

For example, after using very small amounts, balance disorders, anxiety, paranoia, hallucinations and cardiac arrhythmia can already occur. This can also result in rapid loss of consciousness or, conversely, in agitation, violent and/or psychotic behaviour. The sweets pose a serious threat to public health, according to the Spanish ministry.

The investigation began after the interception of a series of postal parcel shipments to various parts of Europe, including the Netherlands, Germany, France and Italy. The Dutchman received the orders via encrypted messages and via the so-called Deep Web, the part of the internet that is not accessible via regular search engines.

The drugs were produced in a drug lab in a flat in the center of Barcelona. The Guardia Civil raided the house and arrested three people: the Dutchman and two other men of Russian and British descent. According to the Spanish ministry, they belonged to an international gang that deals in (hard) drugs on a large scale. Their identities have not been disclosed.

About 70 shipments were intercepted in the lab, consisting of 5,000 marijuana sweets, 12 kilograms of marijuana and 6 kilograms of hashish. Numerous materials used for the production, packaging and distribution of the drugs were also found in the flat.

The investigation into the criminal gang is currently in full swing.

Recently, the local police of Turnhout and emergency doctors of the AZ Turnhout warned about the serious health risks of cannabis sweets, after a young man was found in a severely psychotic state after eating one or more of such sweets. Turnhout wasn’t about gummy bears, but wormy candy.

“The effect of one candy is much greater than, for example, smoking a joint and the symptoms or sensations also occur much later than when smoking cannabis,” the local police said. “That’s what makes them so dangerous. Anyone who eats such a sweet will not notice it until an hour or an hour and a half later, and then there is a risk that the user will eat a number of those sweets in the meantime because the first one did not immediately produce the desired effect. That only makes the eventual consequences worse.”

“The sweets can lead to psychotic sensations, far-reaching feelings of fear, delusions and images and uncontrolled aggression. Anyone who eats one or a few of those sweets is in danger of losing all sense of reality. And that can lead to serious consequences.