Idaho Law Or Farce? No Gifting Candy Less Than 50 Pounds?

Valentine’s Day has men bending over backwards for their sweethearts. Searching for the right card, picking up fresh flowers, and of course, chocolate.

But rumor has it, you may need to pick-up a whole lot more than you originally planned.

There are “crazy” laws swirling around the Internet and one states: “It is illegal for a man to give his sweetheart a box of candy weighing less than 50 pounds.”

This being my first Valentine’s Day in Idaho, I was blown away!

It’s all over the internet, laughed at by blogs and even The Huffington Post. No less than 50-pounds!? I think to myself, men must really appreciate their sweethearts here.

How do Idahoans manage this every Valentine’s Day, birthday, or anniversary? It’s a tough law not to break.

I asked around a grocery store but no one had a clue what I was talking about so I went to the experts at Sarah’s Candy Cottage in Idaho Falls.

And while the President Mike Swendsen liked the idea, “50 pounds, that’d be a nice order!”

He’d never heard of it either.

“Whoever wrote that should push the bill really hard, because I think all the people in the chocolate business would be really happy with that.”

Determined to prove its legality I went to the Idaho Room at the Idaho Falls library and searched the oldest laws Idaho has on file.

Nothing.

Then I was really suspicious. I called every law library in the state, emailing, tweeting — trying to get ahold of someone. And finally, I found Dave Leroy.

“I presumed this law was a farce, fiction, and never part of the Idaho state legislature,” Leroy told me via Skype.

The former Attorney General and Lt. Governor went through the 20,000 or so statutes and guaranteed me there’s no way it’s a law.

“Thus I’m able to say the Idaho code contains no mention of 50 pounds of candy in reference to a sweetheart.”

So how do strange laws like this end up plastered all over the internet? Leroy had an answer for that as well.

“There are groups and book publishers around the country that get crazy ordinances from cities, outrageous ordinances from counties and peculiar state laws, publish them as teasers and sell them in books. Some of them are true, most of them aren’t.”

So sweethearts across Idaho, I hate to say it, but you probably won’t be getting 50 pounds of candy this Valentine’s Day.

Unless they take Leroy’s advice.

“Of course if anybody wants a first class sweetheart they would no doubt comply with that law even if it’s not on the books,” said Leroy.

Wise words of advice, especially on Valentine’s Day.

And you may be wondering how much 50 pounds would cost you — if you go the inexpensive route it will be around $150, but specialty chocolate could leave a hole in your wallet up to $1,000!