Featured Image Credit: @miketyson/Instagram/TikTok
Topics: Mike Tyson, Drugs
Cameron Frew
Mike Tyson's cannabis ear-shaped edibles have been banned in a US state over fears of children eating them.
In 1997, the former heavyweight world champion bit off a chunk of Evander Holyfield's ear. "I bit him because I wanted to kill him. I was really mad about my head being bumped and everything," he said in an earlier interview.
The incident is one of the boxer's most defining moments, even inspiring a product under his cannabis brand: weed gummies, shaped like a bitten ear.
Iron Mike has been selling cannabis products since 2016, reportedly earning around $1 million each month from his Tyson 2.0 business and 420-acre weed resort near Desert Hot Springs in southern California - because obviously, weed is legal in this state.
'Mike Bites' have already rolled out in California, but amid plans to launch elsewhere, they've been somewhat banned in Colorado.
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This is the result of HB 1436, a bill passed in 2016 which sought to ban THC-infused lemon drops, gummy bears and other edibles that could 'entice' children.
The bill's text reads: "A prohibition on the production and sale of edible retail marijuana products that are in the distinct shape of a human, animal or fruit.
"Geometric shapes and products that are simply fruit flavoured are not considered fruit. Products in the shape of a marijuana leaf are permissible. Nothing in this subparagraph applies to a company logo."
As per Westword, Tyson's ear-shaped edibles are 'directly applicable' to the law, according to Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division's communications director Shannon Gray.
However, this isn't the end of the world for the product: instead of being released as they are, they'll be manufactured in the shape of a 'T' in Colorado, Tyson 2.0 said.
Tyson doesn't take a hands-off approach with the business: he tries every single product, assuring his gummy ears 'actually taste good.'
He said: "Each Tyson 2.0 product has been personally tested and approved by me.
"I’m better today thanks to the healing powers of cannabis, and I’m eager to share what we’ve created so others can benefit from this magical plant the way I have.”
Speaking to The Times, Holyfield said he was 'glad' Tyson bit his ear, as it 'cost [him] a lot of grief' but allowed him to 'talk about what forgiveness is.'
He said: "What people don't know is Mike is a lot more knowledgeable than they think. They think he is crazy, but he's a businessperson now. You can't be the same way when you get older."
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