All Hallow’s Eve, most commonly referred to as Halloween, is a great time for kids to dress up, scare their friends, trick-or-treat, get plenty of candy and have lots of fun. However, is this candy safe to eat?
Studies show that a majority of the time it is safe to eat, but is “a majority of the time” really safe enough to put to the test?
Most kids have been told from a young age to look out for razor blades in their candy and to not eat anything without a wrapper. Even if they weren't told how to take precautions, they were still safe: parents went through the candy their child received before the child was allowed to eat any of it. Now a new danger has entered: fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid drug that is 100 times stronger than morphine, and is incredibly dangerous.
Fentanyl, in recent years, has been appearing more in the news, in public settings and around towns. Six out of ten counterfeit pills potentially contain fentanyl according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Just last year, in Calhoun County, there were 52 deaths due to fentanyl overdoses, and 42 in Morgan County.
Fentanyl can be laced into a candy. Not even sealed candy is safe anymore: someone may know how to reseal a package and make it look as if it has never been opened. For example: it is simple to reseal a small skittles bag with a flat iron, tape and scissors.
What is the likelihood it will affect Hartselle, with it being the small town that it is? Extremely unlikely. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the threat still exists. All of this being said, is it really safe for kids to be able to eat their Halloween candy before a trusted adult, for example: their parent, is able to check their Halloween candy haul?
Written by Kylee A. Little
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