Will Rainbow Fentanyl Be Given Out on Halloween? Experts React

There have always been warnings about drugs potentially being passed out under the guise of candy on Halloween, but an especially dangerous opioid has become the latest drug feared to be mixed into the treats next Monday.

Don’t Take Candy From Strangers

Every year, warnings go out for people to be on the lookout for drugs like marijuana edibles or objects such as needles to be inside candy on Halloween. This year is different though, according to Joel Best, a sociology and criminal justice professor at the University of Delaware who has spent decades studying the phenomenon of tainted Halloween treats.

“This year has been especially unusual because you have prominent people pointing to a particular danger, which, of course, is the danger of rainbow fentanyl,” Best told USA TODAY. “This has been very strange.”

Best reported that while he normally receives interview requests two weeks before the holiday, he started receiving requests all the way back in September of this year. Ever since the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration put out a PSA on August 30th about rainbow fentanyl, it has become a cause for great concern among Americans.

Best noted, however, that in all his years of studying, he never found evidence of poisoned or fake candy being fatal to children, except for a case in the 1970s when a Texas father poisoned his son’s Halloween candy.

Best does not believe there is a reason to be concerned. “This is idiotic,” Best said. “Nobody’s gonna give it away to small children.”

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A ‘Ludicrous’ Assumption

Drug experts agree with Best that it is unlikely for rainbow fentanyl to be given out as Halloween candy.

Dr. Caleb Banta-Green, director of the University of Washington’s Center for Community-Engaged Drug Education, pointed out that the goal of drug dealers is to maximize profits, which cannot be done by giving it to children for free or asking them to pay for it when they likely don’t have any money.

“That’s just not your target audience,” Banta-Green said. “It just isn’t.”

In recent weeks, though, drug busts have unearthed rainbow fentanyl found in things like Lego containers, which only adds concern that children are being targeted. David Herzberg, the associate history professor at the University of Buffalo added that opioids are hidden in places like candy boxes and toy containers in order to make them easier to smuggle.

He adds that giving rainbow fentanyl to children increases the chance of drug dealers getting arrested, making it a “colossally stupid business move.”

“Distributing your product for free to a bunch of children, who will die, causes the authorities to come after you like no one has ever seen before, to the benefit of your competitors,” Herzberg said. “The whole thing is just absolutely ludicrous.”

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