Sheriff's Department urges parents to check for pot-laced Halloween candy

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is urging parents to look for candy containing marijuana this Halloween.

Investigators have confiscated candies and snacks containing pot from marijuana dispensaries, and they are concerned such items could wind up in children's trick-or-treat bags, they said Friday in a statement.

The warning comes days before Californians vote on Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization measure. Sheriff Lee Baca opposes the proposition and has said he will continue to arrest marijuana growers even if it is approved.

Officials said in their warning that the confiscated items were untested and unlicensed, and some of the packaging could be attractive to children. The department encouraged parents to check Halloween candy and other snacks for indications they were tampered with.

The department has not received reports in previous years of candy or snacks containing pot being distributed to Halloween trick-or-treaters.

-- Sam Quinones

Comments

[djm19]

Really? Really? A very convenient warning this close to voting day. I doubt this is a serious issue.

[Brad]

ok..so let me get this straight....if the majority of california voters vote to make pot legal in november..then the sheriff (in cali) is still going to arrest growers....so the sheriff knows whats better for the people in cali then the actual voting public????

anyone who thinks we should continue to waste millions of dollars a month enforcing laws that change nothiing really need their heads examined...besides...alcohol kills wayyy more people than pot ever could!!!! so why is alcohol legal???

[wingo]

Hmmm... so this has never happened before ( along with the poison and razorblades of yesteryear), and is entirely random conjecture ?

This reeks of obvious anti-Prop 19 propaganda on the part of law enforcement.

Very sneaky.

[jack]

psshh... scare tactic if i've ever seen one.

yes on 19!

[Pounamu]

Just like the scare about razor blades and whatnot in candy was proven to be a MYTH, so is this nonsense.

The Sheriff's Department needs to worry about catching real criminals instead of wasting time admonishing parents to do something which is already their responsibility.

[Kevin]

What a joke. This is just the Sheriff's department trying to use as a tactic to scare people into voting no on Prop 19. Of course there's never been reports of trick or treaters finding pot laced candy in previous years, but since there's a proposition to make marijuana legal and Baca so strongly opposes they're going to try to scare parents into believing that there could be pot-laced candy being given to their kids.

Also what parent in their right mind goes about letting their kids dive right into the candy without looking through it first? I sure don't let my kids do that. Nice scare tactic, but keep grasping at those straws.

[eric]

LOL

This is just like the 1980's SCARE tactic of saying people were giving out Caramel Apples with razors in them. Im sure just about every adult over 25 has heard that atleast once.

What people should be worried about is the trick or treating in crime ridden neighborhoods at all.

This is too funy LASD.. Didnt realize you all were into comedy also!

[John]

Get real. Candies and food items are expensive. Dought anyone would want to just give them away. The concern is BS

[Brandon]

Stop all this bs! This is absurdity! Marijuana has never been a problem for children on Halloween. This is a pathetic political ploy to get people to vote against 19.

[andrew]

this is ridiculous, this isn't even news. These candies and other marijuana edibles are not cheap, usually cost atleast $10 a pop, i doubt anyone is gonna flood the neighborhood with thousands of dollars of free pot.

[NG]

who would spend the $10 it costs for an edible from a collective and give it to a kid, a kid on halloween, its not as if you can buy a bag of 50 pot kit kat bars and hand them all out for $5.

[Phillip]

Nice scare tactic! Why not issue the same warning about chocolate covered alcohol candy? Pop a few of those and you got yourself a nice buzz.

[Ned Flanders]

Talk about hysterical. The article says, "The department has not received reports in previous years of candy or snacks containing pot being distributed to Halloween trick-or-treaters." Really, so why are you warning people this year?

Does the law enforcement propaganda machine machine ever stop. Oh, that's right, no.

[a real person]

how is this news worthy? this is all lies. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is more retarded than i thought if they expect us the believe this

[donn]

Hey parents the sheriff says check for pot laced candy, and yet provides no details about how to do this? Sounds like more fear mongering to me. Dispensary merchandise is not exactly inexpensive, I doubt anyone is going to give it away free for Halloween.

[jay]

Are you serious???????????? Who would waste weed like that and give it to children that is a total scare tactic!!!

[Jessica]

They discovered our candies. Darn. Those were supposed to be top secret (for licensed patients, not to drug innocent children with)

[LAinWLA]

You have GOT to be kidding me.... those candies are expensive, nobody's going to just give them away to little kids. This is shameless fear-mongering.

[tres passin]

Also, watch out for propagandists costumed as journalists disseminating fear and intentionally scaring families & children with false info on pot.

Plus, be on the lookout for people in LAPD uniforms who aren't serious about combating crime, but prefer to sift through Halloween candy looking for something that isn't there...unless they put it there.

[SDDoctor]

Throwing stuff at a wall to see what sticks. Always a solid tactic.

[Verizon User]

Donn, you got it right! I was looking for details, pictures of the marijuana-laced candy, but NOTHING. Baca, if you're going to send out a message like this, back it up with SOMETHING!

"Hey parents the sheriff says check for pot laced candy, and yet provides no details about how to do this? Sounds like more fear mongering to me. Dispensary merchandise is not exactly inexpensive, I doubt anyone is going to give it away free for Halloween.

Posted by: donn | October 29, 2010 at 02:59 PM "

[AB]

This is the most absurd thing I've ever heard.

What incentive does a pot smoker have to put their expensive weed in kids' candy?

And does anyone else find it interesting that Lee Baca, who is against Prop 19 (to the point of not obeying it if it becomes California law), decided to make this statement right before an election? How convenient. I wouldn't be surprised if he's getting donations from the alcohol lobby.

[James Jackson]

This bit of complacent stupidity amounts to no more than a transparent ploy to vilify Proposition 19 and reveals the contempt Sheriff Baca has for the intelligence of the voting public.

[Warren]

Sheriff Lee Baca thinks he is above the law. Baca needs to be removed.

[TheBigPicture]

I guess the razor blade warnings from yesteryear were started by the electric razor companies...very cunning, but effective...

I've never heard of Halloween candy being laced with alcohol, however, they just had 13 kids admitted to the emergency room for cannabis brownies and you hear stories every so often...However, this dose sound more like a prop 19 scare tactic...