KFC Marijuana Sales To Begin In Colorado? It’s Unbelievable — Literally

KFC: Marijuana on the menu? Not likely. A story that began circulating on Tuesday afternoon created a bit of a frenzy, but the fact is, there’s no sign KFC will really be selling marijuana in its stores.

The story began at the Racket Report, where it was announced that marijuana profits were hitting such high levels that the fast food restaurant chain had decided to get in on the game. While the idea may appeal to pot lovers who think they can get the munchies and a bucket full of munchables in a single stop, there are a few problems.

First and foremost, Racket Report appears to be a mostly satirical website, carrying multiple stories, such as the Fetal Ink Syndrome story, that have been debunked by fact-checking site Snopes. (Here‘s Snopes debunking the Fetal Ink Syndrome tale.)

KFC also doesn’t mention any marijuana sales on its official news page — a thing you’d think they’d mention if they were hoping to drum up sales.

Another concern is banking. While marijuana shops were assured early in 2014 that they could have access to banks, many report still having difficulties. Though the original story claims that KFC’s pot sales will be cash only, in order to protect the restaurant’s funds, this would be no protection.

If marijuana sales are understood to be federally illegal (a question that is in limbo at the moment, with government officials calling on law enforcement to make pot arrests a very low priority, but laws still on the books) then no funds collected by a facility could reasonably be protected. That is, if the government elected to seize funds illegally procured, they could still freeze bank accounts and seize the contents — even if all illegal dealings were handled in cash.

This could not only be a concern for KFC, but for its parent company, YUM Brands.

Notably, a KFC turned into a marijuana dispensary is a plot point in a South park episode, and there is another KFC that does indeed sell marijuana — but it’s not the fried chicken chain. Instead, it’s a shop called Kind For Cures, a California pot shop based on that same South Park episode, that assures on its website, “This ain’t no chicken joint!”

Calls to YUM Brands and to KFC Tuesday evening were not immediately returned, but there are no signs that KFC marijuana will be available in the bucket next to your extra crispy any time soon.

[Photo by: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]