Calm down, morons

Halloween is a time for many things: tricks, treats, watching Hocus Pocus on FreeForm because you couldn’t get your shit together in time to make your Game of Thrones couples’ costume. It’s also the season for outlandish urban legends, from fears about crushed Tylenol being mixed into Pixie Sticks to that old chestnut about razors hidden in apples. This year, a police department in Pennsylvania is participating in the grand tradition of scaring the crap out of parents by issuing a warning about pranksters passing out THC edibles to kids.

This particular rumor appears to originate from the Johnstown Police Department in Johnstown, PA. Last week, the department issued a safety warning urging parents to exercise caution this Halloween, posting a photo of edibles packaged as Nerd Ropes. “We urge parents to be ever vigilant in checking their children’s candy before allowing them to consume those treats,” the post said. “Drug-laced edibles are package [sic] like regular candy and may be hard to distinguish from the real candy.”

The warning was apparently inspired by a recent drug bust in the neighboring area of Stoney Creek Township, where authorities seized 60 pounds of marijuana and 394 packages of Nerd Ropes laced with THC. None of the local media reports covering the bust made any mention of whether or not there was any evidence that the candy was intended for distribution for children, either on Halloween or on any other day. [Read More @ Rolling Stone]