NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. – A large amount of marijuana washed ashore Saturday morning on Neptune Beach near Florida Boulevard.
A bystander called Neptune Beach police to alert them about a different type of “seaweed” that washed ashore.
Zach West was visiting the beach with his mother when he noticed the marijuana that looked similar to sargassum, causing him to take a whiff for validation.
“I did pick it up and smelled it to see what it smelled like,” West said. “It was weed. It’s kind of crazy.”
Ward said he and his mother were concerned for others, so she called the police.
“They’re babies and if they get it now of days they lace it with fentanyl. So, they could’ve picked it up and there could’ve been fentanyl in it and the baby just dropped dead,” Ward said.
The Neptune Beach Police Department was working with Public Works to clean up the marijuana off the beach.
“It’s crazy,” Suzanna Joseph said. “I’m surprised there wasn’t a bunch of hippies on the beach.”
The police department posted a warning to beachgoers who may have wanted to pick it up or take it home: “Before anyone starts thinking about coming out and turning this discovery into your own treasure hunt, we would advise against it. After floating in the ocean for some time, the marijuana has quickly begun to degrade and rot.”
Bryan Crews said it looks like a scene from a TV show.
“I don’t know from personal experience, but watching shows, if you put it all together, it probably would’ve been five or ten pounds,” Crews said.
Police are asking people to avoid that area of the beach until it is cleaned.