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A Fearmongering Tweet About Weed-Laced Halloween Candy Did Not Have Its Intended Effect

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The temperature is dropping, the pumpkins are out, and the Halloween copaganda is here. It happens every year: a local ABC, CBS, ABC, or Fox affiliate reports on the dangers of drug-laced candy in your kid’s trick or treat bag. But “how many children have actually been seriously injured or died as a result? The answer – given the available data on the topic – seems to be not a single one,” according to Canada’s CBC News.

Joel Best, a University of Delaware sociology and criminal justice professor, has researched reports of Halloween candy tampering in the U.S. dating back to the 1950s. “I couldn’t find a single report of a child killed or seriously injured from a contaminated treat received during trick-or-treating,” he said. “This is a contemporary legend, and that’s all it is.”

Best identified about 200 confirmed cases of candy tampering in the U.S. and Canada since 1958.

“The attempts to systematically follow up on all reports concluded that the vast majority were hoaxes,” Best said.

There’s even a Wikipedia page for “poisoned candy myths.” But here we go again:

“BEWARE: As Halloween gets closer, @BensalemPolice are warning parents to LOOK at your child’s candy before they eat it. They confiscated these snacks that look a lot like the real thing. All are laced with THC @6abc,” 6 ABC reporter Jaclyn Lee tweeted. Parents should look at candy given to their kids by strangers (good advice!), but to center the fake panic around drugs is Reefer Madness-level fearmongering. Because if there’s one thing drug dealers love, it’s giving away weed for free.

This particular scare tactic tweet did not have the desired effect, unless she meant to drive tourism to Bensalem, Pennsylvania, which is apparently loaded with free edibles. In that case, thank you for the public service.

It’s not even October yet. There’s still plenty more of these to come.

(Via CBC)