- Wingstop is selling "Blazed & Glazed" chicken wings it says are "designed to taste like 4/20."
- The flavor is made from hemp seeds, terpenes, strawberry, and cayenne pepper.
- Wingstop said the wings "won't actually get you high."
Wingstop is launching limited-edition chicken wings it says are "designed to taste like 4/20," a reference to the date celebrated by cannabis consumers.
The wings are flavored with hemp seeds, strawberry, cayenne pepper, and terpenes, which are compounds found in high concentrations in cannabis plants. On Wingstop's menu, the "Blazed & Glazed" flavor is described as "sticky, sweet, and herbal" and is given a two out of five rating for spice.
"The new flavor is designed to taste like 4/20 – capturing the herbal notes of the holiday and may even produce a mouth-tingling sensation – although the flavor won't actually get you high," the company said in a press release.
Wingstop said this is the first time it's made a custom flavor for 4/20, a day of cannabis-based celebrations. Wingstop said "Blazed & Glazed" was launched in all of its US restaurants on Monday and will be available until Friday.
Wingstop says it will also be selling Blazed and Glazed wings at the 420 Hippie Hill Festival in San Francisco on Wednesday. The festival, which has live music and food vendors, bills itself as the Bay Area's biggest free cannabis event.
Reviews of the product have been mixed. One Twitter user said "that is NOT how 420 should taste" while another said they wanted their money back after buying the flavored wings.
As well as Wingstop, other fast-food chains are cashing in on booming cannabis culture.
Chicken and burger chain Jack in the Box is launching a shake named after a cannabis strain and stoner comedy movie, "Pineapple Express", which it said will sell for $4.20 on April 20. TGI Fridays, meanwhile, is selling a Blazed & Glazed Bundle which it calls "the ultimate cure for your munchies." None of the products actually contains cannabis.
An increasing number of states are legalizing cannabis at a local level. As of late February, recreational cannabis was legal in 18 states, and medical cannabis in a further 20 states.
The House of Representatives passed a bill decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level on April 1, though it isn't expected to pass the Senate.