To worry about sweets from trick or treating…

[Backtoblack87]

Just had a horrible thought… when we go trick or treating, what if we are given dodgy sweets? I mean I know it isn’t likely but unless you know everyone you go to, how can you guarantee they aren’t giving your kid drugs?! Does this worry anyone else?!

What a bizarre thing to say

Its fine if you dont believe me, it was early 90’s and people did and still do give crisps sometimes

They did in the 90s, not seen this in today's world though, I guess you always get one or two who run out of sweets...

There are no guarantees. It’s still a low risk activity if you take some basic precautions. Stick to you own neighborhood. Don’t eat anything in a torn or damaged package.

Don’t eat homemade items from someone you don’t know extremely well. If you would have a home baked treat from your next door neighbors house any other day of the year, it is still fine on Halloween.

What do you think was put in the packet? What alerted you to there being something foreign added?

That's a good point, actually.

If folk have been clearing all the old, out-of-date and/or slightly questionable foods out of the pantry: the tins and jars go to school for the harvest festival and all the sweets and chocolates get given out at Hallowe'en!

Only go to houses you know.

when my kids were little, we did a couple of neighbours who had pumpkins out. These days, I don’t put a pumpkin out and keep the house dark.

people do weird stuff, some are unhinged. I think OP’s thought is reasonable. Some are goign to be giving out of date stuff etc. Cost of living argument in this situation is bull - it costs nothing to have your lights off and not have a pumpkin out.

Exactly this! Knocking on a strangers door and asking for sweets is very strange.

I do wonder if most of these allegations are basically "My 6yo ate 74 individual bags of Haribo in the space of two hours and then felt really unwell all night... must have been laced with drugs!"

Ah yes. My neighbours, brothers, cousin got given sweets with razor blades inside. And a friend of a friend was given LSD.

I dont know,
I was about 11/12

I noticed the top of the packet wasnt easy to open , and when i did manage to open the packet, it had a blue liquid over the crisps

Me & friend thought it was weird and just put them in the bin
I dont think we told an adult

I think it is extremely unlikely.

I mean do a bit of critical thinking....

What would be the gain of the person doing it?

Given that they wouldnt see the results of giving kids drugs "for a laugh", given that kids go T&Ting with parents and in groups they wouldnt be able to abduct or assault them. Given that any drugs given in sweets would be easily traced by who had them, in what area and from which houses they visited, they would be caught very easily so a massive risk.

So no gain whatsoever and a huge risk. So no, it wouldnt cross my mind, or it never did until tonight and now it never will again.

It isn't if there are decorations which means you're invited to knock. It's a bit of community spirit, it's a shame that some people are so down on it.

Isn't it just as likely it was some kind of manufacturing fault or accident rather than intentional? Was it those crisps with that little packet of salt in, weren't they blue? Maybe water got in and mixed with the dye? Or I remember Walkers did a promotion where you'd sometimes find a blue packet with a fiver or a voucher for free crisps in it so maybe something to do with that.

I've never heard of any blue drugs.

Don't knock it, razor blades and LSD are expensive.

It's DD's last year trick or treating (12, soon to be 13).
From being a toddler taken out to trick or treat I've gone through everything she's received every year. Never had any problem. Always only went to lit up houses with decorations outside. Sometimes we'd get the odd few things like an opened packet of half eaten sweets (bin). Some have given coppers instead of sweets (went into money box). I've never had a bad experience with her.

Not all of us agree with trick or treating for our own reasons. Just because you like it and I dont doesnt mean that I am "down on it". You do you and I will do me.

It's happened before. It's usually by accident. I remember it being in the news one year that a man gave kids cocaine!

Also, I know it's the US but...

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11349057/Experts-warn-parents-against-trick-treating-spike-drugs-hidden-wrappers.html

Honestly, I'd never let kids go knocking on random in a stranger's doors asking for stuff.

But if someone gives a reason why they don't like it then obviously others who do like it are going to respond.

It means that you are down on it to me. Once a year some people come together as a community to make small children smile and have fun but it is often reduced to 'begging' and other nonsense.

I noticed the top of the packet wasnt easy to open , and when i did manage to open the packet, it had a blue liquid over the crisps

Could have been just blue food colouring or slime. Someone's idea of playing a "hilarious" trick on the trick or treaters. Like DH putting the odd sprout in with the sweets.

In what world do drug dealers give their stash away for free? And where on earth do you live that you have this assumption about your neighbours?

Yes. Someone once stuffed a razor blade into a chocolate bar. Someone else put glass shards in sweets. Someone “accidentally” gave some children paracetamol instead of candy. Someone else “accidentally” gave children his stash of cocaine. And it has been in the news, a quick google will also show that this is something that has been ongoing for years across multiple different countries. Although it’s highly, highly unlikely it’ll happen, it doesn’t mean it won’t. So ridiculing the OP for having an awareness that some people are just horrendous individuals to children, or denying this doesn’t happen isn’t really helpful when all she’s trying to do is raise awareness and be cautious.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RonaldClarkk_O%27Bryan

One of the only documented cases of poisoned sweeties at Halloween was by Ronald Clark in the US he poisoned 4 sherbet stick things and pretended he got them from a different door. Gave 2 to his kids and 2 to their friends who didn't eat them. He made his son eat one and he died of cyanide poisoning but it was him who poisoned him and he did it for life insurance. Police rounded up the other 2 who Ronald gave to his kids friends and their parents had binned them as they were obviously opened.

All the halloweeen poisoning stories are based on this man who is now dead and has been for
Over 40 yrs.

I think 99.9999999% of Halloween sweets are fine and might just cause sickness if eaten in too many quantities!!

Got any sources? It is harmful because it's just fear mongering and contributes to our ridiculously anxious society especially when it comes to our children. Children may be more protected than ever physically but their mental health is in the toilet.

Unfortunately some people are just malicious and don’t need to gain anything from being spiteful. In Brisbane, close to where I live, a mum was pushing her 9 month old baby in a pram through a park and some random man just walked up to them and poured scalding hot coffee over the baby before walking off. He didn’t gain anything from that. They were strangers to him, their paths had never crossed.

I know last year in Melbourne children who were trick or treating were given lollies with tiny shards of glass in them. Again, what was there to gain from that? Police acknowledged that this was becoming more common.

Toddlers trick or treating with their parents were given bags of pick and mix lollies containing paracetamol in the UK when I lived there.

Some people are c@nts, they’re just horrible and don’t always need a reason or something to gain, they’re just wired different…

That doesn't include any instance of a child being given a harmful substance in Halloween sweets.

Of course the Daily Mail are going to print anything sensationalist and fear mongering!

Drug dealers tend to be quite protective of their drugs for obvious reasons.

I know people think that sharing this kind of thing doesn't do any harm and is just being safe but your kids see you doing this and talking about this and they get the message that the world is a really dangerous place and that random strangers are just always out to get them and that is just not good for them or their mental health growing up. And this isn't even based on any legitimate fear! Don't go looking for new, made up things to be anxious about!