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Drugs as Halloween candy: Has it actually happened locally?

By KIRO 7 STAFF

On Wednesday, a story about dangerous Halloween candy spread across the Internet after police in Jackson, Miss., posted a photo of ecstasy that could be confused as candy. “They are the new shapes of ‘Ecstasy’ and can kill kids through overdoses!!!” the post read. “So, check your kid's candy and ‘When in doubt, Throw it out!!!’”

By KIRO 7 STAFF

Editor's note: This story was originally posted in 2015, but police and deputies said they haven't seen a change in the last year.

On Wednesday, a story about dangerous Halloween candy spread across the Internet after police in Jackson, Miss., posted a photo of ecstasy that could be confused as candy.

“They are the new shapes of ‘Ecstasy’ and can kill kids through overdoses!!!” the post read. “So, check your kid's candy and ‘When in doubt, Throw it out!!!’”

The warning reached nearly a half million people on KIRO 7’s Facebook page, and thousands more on other media sites. But commenters raised questions: Does this really happen? Is this unnecessary hype?

We called the King County Sheriff’s Office and Seattle police and asked: Have there been reports of kids locally hurt by Halloween candy?

“Not at all,” Sheriff’s spokeswoman Cindi West said. “The most common thing we see are robberies – where bags of candy are stolen by older kids. What they don’t realize is that can be a robbery.”

She checked Wednesday afternoon to see if there were reports of people being hurt by candy, and didn’t find even reports of cases in the last few years.

Neither could Seattle police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb.

“We haven’t had any reports,” he said. “Last year there was talk about edible marijuana – that people would be giving it out. But we haven’t been reports of that either.”

He said there have not been any reports in Seattle of people getting injured from Halloween candy at least in the last 10 years.

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