Lead photo via Victoria Police
For years media outlets and police in North America have been using the mid-October news cycle to scare parents about the prospect of ill-minded potheads giving cannabis-infused edibles to trick-or-treaters, replacing Kit Kats with Kiva Confections.
In the decade or so since police officials have felt it necessary to project the absurd warning, no parent or cop has actually reported finding magic brownies in their child’s candy bag, with most rational outlets taking time last week to firmly debunk the still prevalent rumor.
But, alas, there’s a first time for everything. A post-fright night press release from the Victoria Police Department in British Columbia claims that a local child in the city’s James Bay neighborhood was given a package of candies labeled "Twisted Extracts Black Cherry Zzz Bomb" that touted eight, 10 mg doses of THC.
ALERT|Parents check your kids' Halloween candy again. Package of Marihuana gummies handed out last night. #F1747136 https://t.co/8BksAew3js pic.twitter.com/SczIuvPJHO
— Victoria Police (@vicpdcanada) November 2, 2017
Understandably, the parents of the canna-candy recipient were far from thrilled with their kid’s Halloween haul, and promptly called local cops to report the unconventional treat choice.
Luckily, the child’s mom and dad remembered the specific house that gave out the edibles because of the two other odd treats that were included with the THC gummies — a protein bar and a bag of peanuts.
Like any good parents on Halloween, they were apparently appalled by the choice to give out healthy snacks instead of Snickers or Sweet Tarts, and took a closer look at the individual gifts.
When police arrived at the house and inquired about the adults-only candy given to a small child, it became clear that the man was not familiar with, as Victoria police put it, “safe Halloween practices.”
We’re guessing the accidental drug dealer hadn’t prepared for the holiday and rummaged around their cabinets to find whatever “treats” they could, hence the peanuts and protein bar, and, yes, the infused edibles. It's not yet clear if the cannabis candy belonged to the person who gave them out, or if they were the property of another occupant of the residence.
Just to be safe, the responding officers instructed the Halloween novice to stop handing out candy, turn off their lights, and call it a night. As for the rest of the neighborhood, Victoria P.D. has instructed anyone who trick-or-treated in the James Bay area to check their children’s candy bags for any more accidental edibles.
And while we’re almost positive that the same fear-mongering weed haters will use this exact story to scare parents and children out of trick-or-treating next October, the Victoria edible fiasco wasn’t even the worst trick-or-treating narcotics incident of the week.
In the Keshena area of Wisconsin’s Menominee Indian Reservation, USA Today reports tone trick-or-treater found a dime bag of methamphetamine mixed in with their sugary bounty, a Halloween horror that prompted the entire town to throw away their children’s holiday candy.
Local law enforcement officers haven’t been able to track down the local meth maven, but again, we’re guessing the distribution was accidental, and not a blatant attempt to coerce kids into trying the deadly drug.
So while we’re pretty sure that no one is explicitly trying to harm your child with drugs disguised as candy, you may want to take a peek at your kid’s Halloween candy, y’know, just in case.