Police departments across the country have issued warnings to parents to check their children’s Halloween candy for marijuana edibles. Law enforcement officials apparently have no idea how much edibles actually cost. The cannabis community hasn’t stopped laughing because we know just how expensive edibles are.

Spending Hundreds on Edibles for Halloween Treats?

This is what’s also laughable. Who in their right mind is going to spend hundreds, or maybe upwards of $1,000 or more on candy to give to trick-or-treaters? No cannabis user I know, that’s for sure. I mean, sure, it could happen on accident but it’s not going to happen intentionally.

Is it Just Fearmongering?

Cannabis is legal for adult use in 11 states and is legal for medical use in most of the rest of the country. Is the influx of availability of cannabis edibles a reason for this fearmongering tactic? Are police departments just trying to scare parents and give them something else to have anxiety about? It sure seems like it.

Fearmongering is a tactic often used to scare the public into thinking something awful is going to happen.

The announcements began with law enforcement posts and announcements and have now moved onto multiple media outlets picking up these warning and spotlighting them. The media is very good at spreading fear and inducing anxiety into the general public by keeping these types of stories going.

It Won’t Hurt to Double Check Candy Bags

We’re not saying not to check your kid’s candy bag. You can absolutely check every piece and make sure that none of them say anything like THC, CBD (does not induce a high or cause any kind of intoxication), cannabis, marijuana or edible. It really isn’t likely that your child is going to come home with a single piece of what law enforcement is calling a “marijuana-laced edible”. Marijuana-laced? Really?

The Cost of Cannabis Edibles

Those of us that have access to legal cannabis edibles know how much they cost. Sure, there are some options that are around $5, but that is for a low-dose item like a sucker or honey stick. Packages of candy, large brownies and baked goods and gourmet edibles can sell for $20 or more. The more THC is in an edible, the more expensive it is, in most cases.

Let’s say you have an average of 50 children that knock on your door every year during trick-or-treating hours. Multiply that $5 – $20+ by 50 and you’re looking at totals between $250 – over $1,000. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know of anyone that is going to spend that much on Halloween candy other than someone hosting a major event or someone giving away full-size candy bars.

The Hilarity of it All

Unless someone’s already consumed some cannabis and is a little stoned, they’re not going to mistake their expensive edibles for a fun size bag of M&Ms or Sour Patch Kids. Every time I see one of these posts on a news media outlet’s page, all I can do is laugh. The stigma surrounding cannabis users isn’t going away. Sure, it’s relaxed a bit, but people still think that “stoners” and “potheads” are bad, unproductive people that don’t wash their hair, eat junk food and wear tie-dye. A cannabis user can be anyone – your lawyer, your kid’s teacher, your neighbor – even your grandmother. The “stoner” stereotype no longer applies to only those that look like hippies or degenerates (and it never should have been this way either).

A Few Final Words

Now that you’ve had a good laugh, what have you seen on your local news and social media newsfeeds? We’re sure you’re laughing just as hard as we are. It really is crazy what some agencies will go through to scare people and make them think that if their children go trick-or-treating they’re going to come home with cannabis edibles in their treat bags.