Are marijuana edibles on Halloween an actual concern?
Police departments across the nation are urging parents to be extra cautious with their children's Halloween candy this year, warning them about marijuana-laced candy.
The Johnstown Police Department in Pennsylvania tweeted a photo of THC-infused edibles packaged as Nerd Ropes. They urged parents to exercise caution this Halloween.
Colorado legalized marijuana in January 2014, so we wanted to see if there has since been any evidence of people giving out edibles on Halloween.
There haven't been any reported incidents of tampering with Halloween candy in Colorado Springs, according to Officer MJ Thomson with CSPD.
"But that doesn't mean parents shouldn't still look at the candy to make sure it looks right," he said.
However, Thomson does say he thinks it unlikely that anyone would do that in the first place.
"I don't think someone would spend the money and then purposely do that. I would hope not, but you have to be cautious if it's accidentally put in there," said Thomson.
But for concerned parents, there is an easy way to distinguish standard Halloween candy from THC-infused sweets.
Legally, labels on edibles must state the amount of the cannabinoid, and each portion of the edible must be marked, stamped or imprinted with the universal symbol.
That universal symbol is a diamond enclosing the notations “!THC” or “THC M,” which indicates THC-containing product. The “M” identifies medical marijuana. For more information on marijuana packaging, see here.
We also asked Michelle Stoddard, owner of Living Rose Wellness, what she thinks on the matter.
KRDO: How much would you say the lowest priced edible product costs?
STODDARD: I would say the cheapest edible you can find is about $10. It's about 100 milligrams in the medical market. I just don't foresee people dosing children with medical product being that expensive. That's my take on it.
KRDO: What should people look for when trying to spot the difference between edibles and regular candy?
STODDARD: Labeling. Definitely. All of our edibles are marked with a THC logo so you will find that on any edible candy other than that if it's open do not eat it, if it's tainted, do no eat it. If it's handmade do not eat it either, handmade wrapping stay out of that as well.
KRDO: What are some edibles people can get?
STODDARD: Chocolates, mainly gummies. There's a lot of drinks on the market. The chocolate bars are usually standard size, we have the robots here that usually come in about a square that are pretty small. But like I said, everything has a logo on it that has it labeled.
KRDO: It seems as though every year there are different things parents are told to watch out for, do you think edibles are a real concern?
STODDARD: "The main thing when we were children, it was the razor blades and the needles and things of that nature. But I don't think patients are necessarily giving away their medicine for free."
