An eight-year-old boy entered a youth hockey tournament raffle over the weekend and won about $200 worth of marijuana products that included edibles, which he thought was just plain chocolate. His family was furious about the Canadian raffle prize.
"There is no place for drugs at a child's hockey tournament," the boy's grandfather, Keith Redl, told
CTV News.
His grandson, whose name has been withheld, plays novice hockey at Dawson Creek Minor Hockey and it is a longstanding tradition at the end of the game to hold a fundraising raffle.
Each team is tasked with putting together a gift basket worth a minimum of $50, which are usually geared towards children and families. Redl said his grandson put his ticket into one particular pack that looked like it contained "chocolate and chocolate fondue."
The boy won the prize and thought he had gotten a good deal but then event organizers informed his parents that the gift basket contained various chocolate edibles as well as a pipe and lighter.
"My grandson thought he won a great prize," Redl said. "'Dad, I won chocolate!' 'No, son, there’s bad drugs in the chocolate.' How do you explain that to a kid?"
The Dawson Creek Minor Hockey Association confirmed in a statement that one of the prizes donated was a basket containing cannabis products but added that it was clearly marked for adults and did not appear on the donation table.
The association further stated that the raffle winner was given the option of not accepting the prize.
There are no rules in place prohibiting cannabis to be given as a raffle prize but the organization said it had not intended to cause an upset.
"The tournament is organized by volunteers and their objective is to have a fun tournament and raise money for DCMHA to allow hockey to be more affordable and more inclusive," the statement read.
The Dawson Creek Minor Hockey Association said that, in light of the situation, it would be updating its policies to ensure that "going forward our charitable events are in keeping with our policies and government policies."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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