It is October which means that it is time for worried cops to alert us all about the mythical threat of pot edibles being hidden in trick-or treat bags. Last week, the police in Bensalem (Pennsylvania) got ahead of the season panic by alerting parents that they might be able to give their children THC-laced treats that look just like normal candy when they ask for it.
An ABC reporter in Philadelphia reports that Halloween is getting closer. tweeted@BensalemPolice have warned parents that their children should inspect the candy they are giving them before they consume it. The snacks looked a lot like real candy. Each one is laced by THC.”
Jaclyn, the WPVI reporter, added photographs of packages of “Medicated Nerds Ropes” to her tweet. Gas Buds is a California dispensary that sells them for $15. Walmart sells the authentic, unmedicated product for $1.
Lee believes that this is a common belief among people. He wants us to believe they are willing to fork over that kind of money to see a cruel trick. Lee makes it seem unlikely that such pranksters will ever succeed. Lee clearly labels all of his marijuana edibles with warning labels and clues about THC, cannabis leaves, and California’s mandatory warning label.
Bucks County Courier Times The Bensalem alert was reported to have been triggered after William Goodman (20 years old) was arrested in Philadelphia with 50 pieces of THC edibles. Goodman was stopped for having an expired temporary license and was found carrying cannabis snacks. Goodman told police that he buys candy from California. [it]”In the city.”
While there wasn’t any indication that candy was for trick or treaters, Fred Harran of Bensalem Police Director speculated on what Could happen. Harran said that there are many evil and sick people in the world. Courier Times“This is the world we live in.” “This is our world.”
But is it true? It isn’t, according to Nexis news databases. They contain many warnings similar to those issued in 1996 by California, the state that legalized marijuana for medical purposes. There are also no known cases of minors accidentally becoming stoned after they ingest cannabis candies on Halloween. Jane Hu pointed out in a 2019 report. SlateArticle: “There are no real reports of such an event ever occurring.”
But fear springs eternal. Indiana State Police asked parents to check the Halloween stashes of marijuana edibles their children received last year. It was “packaged to look like candy” but contradictorily advised them not to assume it is “OK” just because it appears “OK”.
The seizure and confiscation of cannabis candy was the basis for that alert, just like in Bensalem. Sheriff James Reed of Bureau County in Illinois issued a similar warning, but with a weaker foundation. He mistakenly thought the maple leaf wrappers on Japanese candy wrappers were cannabis leaves.
There are fears that malicious potheads will try to trick kids into buying THC. This is a twist on old stories from at least the 1950s. These tales concern razors and needles as well as poisoning children with seemingly harmless treats like chocolate bars and candied apples. Joel Best is a University of Delaware sociologist who has researched the history of Halloween panic scares.
Best stated to CBC News that he could not find any reports of children being seriously hurt or killed by contaminated treats during trick-or treat. This is an urban legend and it’s the only thing that matters.
The Halloween scare stories are still popular, but the local journalists’ uncritical repeating of police statements is reflected in the cannabis candy scares. But judging from recent journalistic debunkings and the derisive responses to Lee’s tweet—one of which depicted “local media” as a cat lapping water from a faucet labeled “easily disproven police press releases”—people are starting to wise up.
© Copyright 2021 by Creators Syndicate Inc.