Terrible Treats: Warnings about tainted Halloween candy create unfounded fears

Officials scare parents needlessly with exaggerated ideas of drug-laced edibles

Halloween is approaching. The new "tainted treats" urban legend is pot-spiked candy. Police departments and local drug-enforcement agencies across the US are scaring parents with nonsense claims about THC-infused candy that is in packaging that looks like brand-named candies that could be passed out to trick-or-treaters. There are many problems with this claim.

First, there are no legitimate cases of this happening deliberately. There have been cases of accidental ingestion of cannabis products because irresponsible parents did not store them safely. That is an entirely different issue from what is being proposed in these press releases. Even the "warnings" provided by officials will often say there is no evidence this has happened and no credible threats, yet they put out the idea and the public obviously assumes there is "something to it".

Typical Drug Enforcement Agency alert. Note the last line.

Second, why would someone give out expensive, illegal treats to hurt kids? It makes no sense. They would keep this stuff for themselves. Most people won't even splurge to give out a full-size candy bar at $1 a pop, why would they shell out 10x that amount for a pack of drugged candy?

Third, these items are rare as it is. They are manufactured illegally because of trademark and safety issues with the candy manufacturers. So, they will not look like typical candy packages if you take just a quick moment to examine them. Homemade or "off"-looking items should never be consumed because they may be unsafe for many reasons.

Parents are also regularly bombarded with emails and Facebook posts about people passing off meth or acid to kids in candy-like forms. This also does not happen enough to be worried about, if at all.

In the states where medicinal or recreational marijuana products are legal, there are strict labeling requirements so people are clear about what is inside.

Can accidents happen? Sure. People can also obtain illegal cannabis-infused edibles. Careless people could make a mistake and think it’s regular candy but think of the odds for trick or treaters to be given these substances. It’s possible, but would be so rare that there is no benefit to scaring kids and parents about it.

I'm reminded that x-ray facilities still offer candy "screening" over the fear of metal in candy. This is a giant waste of time and money as the incidents of this threat are exceedingly rare or non-existent. I'd also point out that driving or especially walking on Halloween night is significantly more dangerous than the risk of ingesting tainted candy. In fact, sorry to be morbid, but you are more likely to be shot than poisoned on Halloween.

Joel Best has been keeping track of Halloween candy "poisoning" incidents for years. Here are the documented media-hyped cases and what really happened:

1. Kevin Totson (Detroit, 1970). Five-year-old Kevin died after eating heroin supposedly hidden in his Halloween candy. Less heavily publicized was a follow-up story that Kevin had found the heroin in a relative’s home.

2. Timothy O’Bryan (Pasadena, TX, 1974). Eight-year-old Timothy died after eating cyanide-laced Halloween candy. Later investigation revealed that he had received the candy from his father (who had taken out a life insurance policy on his son). The father was tried, convicted, and executed for the murder of his son.

3. Patrick Wiederhold (Flint, MI, 1978). Two-year-old Patrick died after eating Halloween treats. However, tests of tissue samples failed to find traces of drugs or poison, and police concluded that Patrick’s death was from natural causes.

4. Ariel Katz (Santa Monica, CA, 1990). Seven-year-old Ariel collapsed while trick-or-treating and died. Although her parents told the authorities that she had heart problems, the initial press reports blamed Halloween sadism. The coroner attributed the death to an enlarged heart.

5. Name Withheld (Vancouver, British Columbia, 2001). A four-year-old girl died after eating some Halloween candy, leading police to advise parents to throw out all Halloween treats. However, pathology tests showed no evidence of poisoning, and the autopsy showed she died of a streptococcus infection.

I have not been able to find any stories from the past year. The latest, seemingly real, news I could find was in New Jersey in 2019 when a mom claimed to find a bag of heroin in her son's candy stash. The small bag of powder had been easy to spot. Doctors in British Columbia, Canada, where pot edibles are also legal, noticed a few accidental ingestions of cannabis edibles by children starting in 2019. In Washington (state), there have been 207 cases of accidental ingestion of THC edibles through 2020. But, again, these are not deliberate poisonings but careless storage or distribution of dangerous substances that look enticing to kids.

It's difficult for parents to ignore these scary warnings from official sources (that should know better) but they need to use some sense. There is nothing to be gained, and much to lose, for people to be afraid of the wrong things in society.

Sources

No One’s Going to Give Your Kids Free Weed in Their Halloween Candy https://slate.com/technology/2019/10/halloween-candy-weed-risk-not-real-expensive.html

Copycat pot edibles that look like candy are poisoning kids, doctors say https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cannabis-gummies-poisonings-kids-illegal-sites-1.5879232