As Halloween gets closer, it is time to think about the precautions that you can take to keep your holiday fun and safe. For the past few decades, we’ve been cautioned to check our candy and our children’s candy for harmful substances like drugs and poison. Although, many people think this is an urban legend, checking your children’s candy and teaching them to check their candy is extremely important.
Other situations include: California police cautioning parents of drug-laced candy after finding drug infused candy bars and lollipops in 2010, a sad story of a father who poisoned his own son’s candy in hopes to get insurance money and another find of Blow Pops that had been melted down and reconstructed to have dangerous drugs in them.
It seems, many of these drug-laced candies are being made to be sold to drug users, but it is important that we as parents and communities know what to look for. We know that drug-laced candies are out there, and we know that these candies look eerily similar to the candies that our kids will be bringing home from trick-or-treating. What we don’t know is if someone may think it is funny to pass these candies out, or if these types of candies may accidentally get mixed into a batch of safe candy. We also don’t know if someone may decide that they want to cause intentional harm to our innocent children with these types of candies. After some of the violent acts that we have been seeing in schools and other public places recently, assuming that these types of things won’t happen or aren’t possible is not an option.
So, what do we do about it? Practice safe trick-or-treating. Take your kids to neighborhoods and homes that you know will be safe, and always check your children’s candy before letting them consume it. Throw away any candy that is not wrapped, check for tampered wrappers and take time to smell the candy. It is said, most of these candies have a unique smell to them, and the smell can give you a good indication if one of these treats made it into your child’s bag. Another thing to look out for, is the label on the wrapper and what it says, some of these candies will actually state or imply that there are drugs in the candy and how much. For parents who are worried about older children who may be using drugs, this would be a good thing to check if you notice unusual candy or bizarre behavior surrounding candy.
As we get ready for another Halloween this year, let’s remember to take the proper precautions and to keep our kids and neighborhoods safe.
