Pan shops emerge as cannabis chocolate retail hubs in Hyderabad

Drug peddlers in the city seem to have been increasingly using small pan shops and provision outlets as convenient retail points to push cannabis-laced chocolates to consumers.

Recent raids by police and excise department officials revealed a supply chain stretching from neighbouring States to the city’s



localities.

Cannabis-infused chocolates are smuggled into the city in bulk and then supplied to selected pan-shop operators, who stock them alongside regular confectionery and tobacco products. “The shops provide an easy point of contact with customers and allow peddlers to reach daily wage workers, youngsters and other consumers without openly selling conventional cannabis,” said a police official.