PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WPRI) — Police are reminding parents and caregivers to be vigilant as Halloween approaches.
In the past few weeks, police in Glocester and Pawtucket have seized marijuana edibles packaged to look like common snacks.
Upon closer inspection, the packaging indicated the products were made with THC.
“Our concern was, although they were marked as edibles, it’s still concerning that a young child is not going to recognize those markings, right?” Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves told 12 News. “They were marked as normal household snacks that young kids would gravitate towards.”
“This was the first time we had come across them, but obviously, if it’s the first time we’ve come across them, then obviously they are out there,” she added.
Goncalves said Pawtucket police have also seized blue and pink fentanyl pills, as well as individually colored fentanyl pills in recent weeks.
“Not necessarily rainbow pills, in the sense where they’re multicolored,” Goncalves explained.
In the last few months, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a warning about brightly colored fentanyl pills being distributed across the country. The so-called “rainbow fentanyl” mimics other illicit pills, but are made to look like candy and appeal to young people, DEA representatives said in a news release.
Similar instances have been reported all over the country.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department recently reported that opioids were found inside boxes of candy at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The concern is that even if the drugs are not intentionally marketed towards kids, they could accidentally be mixed in with real candy.
Goncalves said with Halloween coming up, police want to make families aware to watch what their kids are eating by taking a good look at the contents of their trick-or-treat bags.
“And not to say that it’s going to be passed out during Halloween, but it’s just to be better off safe than sorry,” Goncalves noted.
Saturday is the DEA’s Drug Take Back Day, when individuals can dispose of expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs, no questions asked, at various sites across the country.
Many police departments have drop boxes where items can be dropped off at any time.
