Winter Haven police warn of chocolate bars laced with hallucinogenic mushrooms

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Winter Haven police are warning parents of hallucinogenic mushrooms that come in the form of a chocolate bar.

"[They are] trying to make it look like it is something that is not dangerous at all," said Winter Haven Police Department chief David Brannan. "Drug dealers, that's what they're looking to do is get people hooked on their products so they can keep selling."

He is warning parents after a search warrant at a suspected meth den yielded 10 of the bars. Police don't know if the suspects intended to sell them or use them, but it sends chills up the spine of Ellen Snelling, the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance chair.

"They could be offered a cookie or candy at school," said Snelling.

She said her then-teenaged daughter got addicted to fun-looking, but danger-inducing drugs.

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"The problem is with the developing brain that a child can become addicted very, very quickly," she said. "I have seen the devastation that drug use can bring to a family."

Her daughter is in recovery, but she said there's a new wave of concerns for kids today. Vaping especially, but also drugs made to look like candy.

The chocolate-laced shrooms Winter Haven police are warning about appear to be sold by a company in California, that lists them on their website for $30.

Florida considers psilocybin a Schedule I narcotic, "which have a high potential for abuse and has no currently accepted medical use in the US."

"If they see something like this and they question what it is, and they believe it's some type of drug is being hidden, they need to contact their local law enforcement agency, so they can get that to us," said Brannan.

Winter Haven police said they have not had any reports of a youngster in town consuming the chocolate-laced shrooms. They said they are targeting drug dealers in town, and that the people caught with these may face charges once chemical tests on the bars are complete.