Marijuana brownies and other edibles may carry double the jail time and double the fines thanks to a vague new law aimed at drugs "marketed or packaged to appear similar to a candy product." The U.S. Senate: Harshing your buzz.

The law, which carries the delightful title of "Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act of 2009," is apparently targeted at "candy-flavored meth," which is a totally real thing that definitely makes sense and is exactly the kind of danger that California Senator Dianne Feinstein ought to be spending her time writing laws about. The "Save the Innocents from All the Drugs That Are Dangerous Act of 2009" carries in it the following text:

(1) UNLAWFUL ACTS- Except as authorized under this title, including paragraph (3), it shall be unlawful for any person at least 18 years of age to knowingly or intentionally manufacture or create, with intent to manufacture, create, distribute, or dispense, a controlled substance listed in schedule I or II that is–

‘(A) combined with a candy product;

(B) marketed or packaged to appear similar to a candy product; and

‘(C) modified by flavoring or coloring the controlled substance with the intent to distribute, dispense, or sell the controlled substance to a person under 18 years of age.

‘(2) PENALTIES- Except as provided in section 418, 419, or 420, any person who violates paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be subject to–

(A) 2 times the maximum punishment and at least 2 times any term of supervised release

"Combined with a candy product" and "marketed or packaged to appear similar to a candy product" are both broad-enough categories to include the kinds of lollipops and lozenges that (I hear) you can find at a dispensary in California, and could potentially be interpreted to include brownies. (Still safe: Weed banana bread.)

To be sure: This is a federal law, and it's pretty rare that a local cop busting you for a pot brownie will call in the FBI. (There are not a lot of people shipping weed around the country baked into baklava or anything.) On the other hand: It's a stupid law, made all the stupider for its broad language.

[FireDogLake]