Lauren C. Moye, FISM News
Two Californian parents were arrested after their son ingested colorful fentanyl-laced candy, fueling fears of poisoned candy leading into Halloween’s traditional trick-or-treating activity.
Warnings about fentanyl-laced candy ahead of Halloween have been making the rounds on social media. These warnings claim that some individuals plan to hand out these narcotics to trick-or-treaters, threatening the lives of children.
On Oct. 18, two parents from Concow, California illuminated the dangers of “rainbow fentanyl” when their two-year-old son was air-flighted with symptoms of opioid poisoning.
Law enforcement officials reported that Justin Bryce Zedaker, 22, and Allie May Stuber, 23, took the child to the Concow fire station. The fire station personnel alerted the Butte County Sheriff’s office to investigate.
In the meantime, the child was flown to Enloe Medical Center. He responded to Naloxone, the opioid overdose medication, when it was administered in flight.
Though the parents said their son had “ingested an unknown subject while in the care of someone else,” deputies ultimately learned that “the child had likely ingested fentanyl at home while in the care of the parents.”
A narcotics investigation team ultimately discovered methamphetamine and a small amount of rainbow-colored fentanyl located in a skull container. The fentanyl was later described as resembling “marshmallows” from a cereal like Lucky Charms.
The parents were arrested for Child Endangerment and Possession of Controlled Substances. They were arraigned on Thursday. They face up to six years in prison and are currently held in Butte County jail on a $150,000 bail.
Despite the timing of the overdose, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said he isn’t concerned about fentanyl-laced Halloween candy.
“Everyone wants to have their own horror story, particularly on Halloween,” he said, likening it to a ghoul story.
However, other law enforcement authorities disagree.
After the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) and federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) seized 12,000 pills of fentanyl wrapped inside Skittles, Whoppers, and SweeTarts candy on Oct. 20 at the local airport, the local law enforcement issued a warning to parents.
“With Halloween approaching, parents need to make sure they are checking their kids’ candy and not allowing them to eat anything until it has been inspected by them. If you find anything in candy boxes that you believe might be narcotics, do not touch it and immediately notify your local law enforcement agency,” said the LASD.
The warnings have also been repeated by political leaders, like Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat.
The warning includes pictures of the seized narcotics. The branded packages were sealed with no apparent tampering, although the fentanyl inside were small blue pills rather than anything resembling the purported candy within the packages.
While some view these warnings as this year’s ‘boogie man’ story, Zedaker and Stuber’s son and the recent Los Angeles International Airport bust show that there is a chance for fentanyl-laced candy to accidentally be passed along this Halloween. Parents should still exercise caution before allowing children to access candy collected from others’ homes.
Whether it’s intentional poisoning or not, fentanyl presents a growing danger to Americans.
According to Butte Interagency Narcotics Task Force, 114 people have died from drug use within the county “mostly due to fentanyl and methamphetamine overdose.”
While the two-year-old has made national headlines because of all the facts of the case, he isn’t the only child to almost pay the ultimate price for fentanyl-laced candy. One Twitter user reported that a coworker’s five-year-old niece was rushed to the hospital after a similar incident.
One of our workers’ 5 year old niece went to the emergency room this weekend after accidentally eating some fentanyl laced candy.
There’s this sign outside the school. pic.twitter.com/TjtAOj9vOf
— Austin Nissly (@atnissly) October 19, 2022
This account could not be verified by FISM.
However, California lost two of its female students in September due to fentanyl overdoses. The victims were 14 and 15. They attended separate schools in Los Angeles County.
Connecticut lost a middle-school student last year.
In Kansas, a school nurse recognized an opioid overdose in time to administer Narcan, the brand name of naloxone.
Nearly a month before, the DEA first sounded the alarm about a growing trend of rainbow fentanyl as a deliberate attempt to draw in kids and young adults. Illustrating that this impacts all states, this press release said that the deadly drug had been seized in 26 different states.
“Rainbow fentanyl—fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes—is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin, according to the DEA. As little as two milligrams can be a lethal amount, depending on a person’s body size and tolerance.
Fentanyl is the leading cause of death in young Americans. This has led to some school districts stocking Narcan, the brand name of naloxone.