Business giving lobsters marijuana before cooking to make it more humane

SOUTHWEST HARBOR, Maine -- A Maine lobster pound is banking on using marijuana to try to make cooking the crustaceans a little more humane.

The business, Charlotte's Legendary Lobster Pound, is owned by a registered medical marijuana caregiver.

The owner, Charlotte Gill, tells WMTW-TV she put a test lobster in a box with a few inches of water before marijuana smoke was blown into the box. She says the animal was calmer for the next three weeks, and she released it into the ocean.

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Gill plans to use the new method at customers' requests, and then build a larger tank to sedate multiple lobsters at once.

It's unknown whether pot smoke actually calms lobsters or has any effect on their meat.