C9

Tammy Scott-Wallace
Telegraph-Journal

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HAMMONDVALE - Even the RCMP officers responsible for catching local drug dealers were stumped by a find they made in Hammondvale last month.

No longer are high-inducing baked goods limited to hash brownies.

The District 3 RCMP plain clothes unit executed a warrant at a residence in the rural community outside Sussex on Oct. 22, and in an earlier press release revealed the significant seizure. The bust netted about five pounds of marijuana, hash oil, the painkiller OxyContin, scales and marijuana growing equipment.

Five plastic tubs they discovered in the freezer contained a less obvious drug.

Unit supervisor Cpl. Roger Gillies said it wasn't until police investigated further that they realized they contained marijuana butter, also referred to as cannabutter or weed butter.

"This is the first time I've seen it in the district," Gillies said, "and I've talked to other drug sections and they've heard of it but never seen it."

Gillies said the dark buttery substance would have been ignored during the thorough search if it weren't for the obvious smell. .

His research shows marijuana butter can be used in much of the same way as any butter, in common recipes or for sandwiches, but unlike the kind you buy at the grocery store, this butter offers an obvious high.

"People even spread it on their toast, I guess," Gillies said.

It is potent and most commonly used as a butter substitute in baking.

He said the marijuana butter is cooked in a pot with marijuana leaves or shake, regular butter and water, simmered, strained and solidified in the fridge.

A 51-year-old Hammondvale man faces several drug charges and will appear in Hampton provincial court on Dec. 16.