Ganja chocolates: 10 things to know about the highly addictive marijuana sweets

Every 5 grams of this chocolate contains 14 percent marijuana leaf extracts and other ingredients. (Representational image: Unsplash)

At first glance, Charminar Gold Munakka may seem like an ordinary yellow and gold-coloured packet of chocolates, but on closer inspection, you'll find that the chocolates are actually laced with ganja (marijuana) and are highly addictive, especially for children.

Recently, the police in Telangana busted a racket after being alerted by a local school that its students were displaying drowsiness and behaving abnormally after consuming these chocolates.

Here's what we know about these ganja-laced chocolates:

1.) Sold under the brand name of Charminar Gold Munakka, every 5 grams of this chocolate contains 14 percent marijuana leaf extracts and other ingredients, the Times of India reported.

2.) These ganja chocolates are available for Rs 10-Rs 30.

3.) They are often found at the small pan and kirana stores and are primarily sold to labourers and students.

4.) Hyderabad excise officials recently busted a case where these chocolates were being sold to students of a government high school at Kothur near Shamshabad.

'Charminar Gold Munakka', a #Ganja laced chocolate, supplied targeting #school children & migrant workers, seized in huge quantities at Kothur, near #hyderabad@DeccanChronicle @oratorgreat @cyberabadpolice @director_tsnab pic.twitter.com/yXg2HQrpw3

— Mohd Dastagir Ahmed (@Dastagir_Hyd) January 10, 2024

5.) Gangs have reportedly been distributing these ganja chocolates for free to students until they got addicted before beginning to sell Charminar Gold Munakka to them.

6.) According to the police, Charminar Gold Munakka is made in Odisha and then supplied to Telangana. "These ganja-filled chocolates are made in districts like Balasore in Odisha and are readily available in the state for as little as 20 per piece. When the migrant labourers - primarily those working in construction - come here for work, they carry these with them and sell them to workers at their site and others employed nearby," said an official told Times of India.

7.) Apart from Charminar Gold Munakka, ganja-laced chocolates are also being sold in bigger yellow and green packets of chocolates named Masthi Munakka.

8.) The Telangana police have made multiple raids and seized 41 kg ganja chocolate in three days.

9.) Based on a tip-off, on Monday, excise officers raided a house in Hyderabad's Kokapet and seized over 4 kg of the ganja-laced chocolates, The New Indian Express reported.

10.) On Tuesday, a pan shop owner was held while in possession of the 560 ganja-laced chocolates weighing 2.8 kg. According to a report in The New Indian Express, the man received the chocolates from Lukchnow via a courier service. He had bought them for Rs 5 per piece and used to sell them only to known customers.

The possession and consumption of marijuana are considered illegal in India under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. While the purpose of possession is considered irrelevant, the punishment is awarded based on the number of drugs in possession.

Read more: Bengaluru businessman caught with marijuana-laced chocolates worth Rs 6 lakh