Prevalence of dangerous “creepy weed” cause for concern – Min. Robeson Benn

Jan 20, 2024 News

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Kaieteur News – During a press conference held on Wednesday, Minister of Human Affairs, Robeson Benn, expressed concern over the rising prevalence of a potent strain of marijuana known as “Creepy.”

Minister Benn highlighted the alarming shift in the drug landscape, emphasizing the need for immediate attention to address the associated risks.

The minister acknowledged that while “Creepy” itself is not a new drug, its contents and effects have raised serious concerns among authorities. Benn disclosed that the origin of this particular strain has been traced back to Venezuela and Colombia, adding a new dimension to the challenges faced by law enforcement agencies.

Earlier this week, the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) reported the successful seizure of 272lbs of “Creepy”. The operation led to the arrest of two individuals, accompanied by the confiscation of a boat and an engine. The seized “Creepy” was concealed in bags containing fertilizers.

Minister Benn highlighted the ongoing efforts to dismantle drug groups within communities, citing the inherent risks associated with drug use and gang activities. He noted the devastating impact these elements have on communities and underscored the government’s commitment to addressing these challenges.

CANU, in its pursuit to combat drug trafficking, achieved significant milestones in 2023. The unit actively implemented strategies to intercept and seize illegal narcotics, conducted thorough investigations into drug-related activities, and collaborated with international agencies to tackle drug trafficking networks.

CANU’s mission is the protection of citizens from the harmful effects of drug abuse. The unit aims to achieve this by raising awareness about the dangers of narcotics, providing support for individuals grappling with addiction, and implementing preventive measures to reduce drug abuse within communities.

Vice News recently reported that over the past half dozen years or so the powerful “creepy” has proliferated around Latin America, being found everywhere from Chile to Costa Rica. Experts claim it has levels of THC much higher than regular marijuana, while also sometimes displaying a wide range of dangerous side effects, raising health concerns in numerous countries. But no one seems to clearly know what the so-called creepy—sometimes written colloquially as krippy, cripi or cr1p1—actually is.

“The cannabis has a super different potency” from normal marijuana said Ximena Steinberg Acuña, an investigator at the Chilean non-profit Science Foundation for Cannabis.

“In fact, the effect seems to be quite different in people who use creepy, they describe the perception of the effects as being rather depressing,” she told VICE News. “They feel a little, like, an exaggerated introspectiveness. Sometimes it generates a bit of paranoia.”

Steinberg Acuña said that while the government has an “exact definition” of what creepy is as “genetically modified marijuana” from Colombia, she wasn’t so sure. On the streets, creepy weed was everywhere in different forms. She suspected that what’s being called creepy in Chile may be mixed with “synthetic cannabis,” although she’s uncertain too.

The Rise of “Creepy” Weed

Creepy marijuana continues to be found across Latin America.

Miguel Tunjano, a former Colombian anti-narcotics officer for over two decades who investigated the country’s cannabis producers at the time and published several studies for the Justice Ministry, told VICE News that the origins of creepy began in the northern province of Cuaca. He said that over the years Colombian authorities pinpointed a certain kind of cannabis being produced in the region where “the cultivators have concentrated the THC, psychoactive cannabinoids, upwards of 18 percent.” He said that authorities had discovered marijuana with THC as high as 28 percent on occasion. THC potency in marijuana in general has increased in the past decades, but still usually only averages around 15 percent today.

He compared the process of raising the THC to alcohol, like turning “a beer into a whiskey.”

Marijuana known as “creepy,” meaning high THC marijuana coming from Cauca appeared in Colombian news reports as early as 2011, and in 2012 Colombian police made a 3.6 ton bust of the creepy in the region. But somewhere along the way, the word “creepy” became used in “marketing” for any form of strong cannabis, said Tunjano.

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• creepy weed, Customs Anti Narcotic Unit (CANU), dangerous, Minister of Human Affairs, Robeson Benn

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