Snorting chocolate: A Vancouver Halloween treat for the big kids?

In the typical Halloween arrangement, the kids get to have the fun,and the adults get to make it happen.

Parents hand out candy and guide costumed youngsters around the neighbourhood, while tiny Jedi and Captain Americas fill their pillow cases with high fructose corn syrup.

So what's an adult to do if they're looking to enjoy the sweeter parts of Halloweenwithout raiding their kid's stash? How about snorting chocolate?

"You immediately experience the very pleasant sensation of chocolate all over your body," saidMary Jean Dunsdon, known to some locals as Watermelon, who provides chocolate snorting experiences at her Commercial Drive sweet shop, The Licorice Parlour.

The process involves specially-refined, dried cacao powderand a small contraptiondesigned specifically to catapult small amounts of it into each nostril, around one/16th of a teaspoon.

"You just need these tiny little particulates to get in the membrane[of your nose].That's how it sends all the informationto your brain," said Dunsdon.

She says chocolate shooters, as they're called, were invented in Europe as a tongue-in-cheek dessert for a Rolling Stones party.The trend has since spread around the worldandDunsdonclaims hers is the only shop in North America providing the experience.

If you're thinking of skipping the trip for a home made version though, CBC food columnist Gail Johnson cautionedagainst itwhile speaking with CBC's On the Coast.

"Don't go grinding up your own Smarties, because you don't want to get fine particulate in your lungs.You have to do it properly."