With Halloween just around the corner, a Pennsylvania police department has issued a warning to parents before their kids go off trick-or-treating. The Johnstown Police Department is advising parents to be extra cautious when collecting candy this October after they found candy edibles that look eerily similar to a popular sweet.
The police department said it discovered the faux candy treats during a recent drug bust.
During the raid, Johnstown Police Department recovered cocaine, crystal meth, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana, and what looked like Nerds Rope, CNN reports.
But in reality, they were packets of THC edibles made to look exactly like the popular '90s candy. And there were hundreds of them.
Which is why the department is now warning parents to be vigilant when it comes to accepting candy during trick-or-treating.
On October 10, the department shared its discovery on its Facebook page.
"During this Halloween, we urge parents to be ever vigilant in checking their children’s candy before allowing them to consume those treats," the post read. "Drug laced edibles are package like regular candy and may be hard to distinguish from the real candy."
The Ferrara Candy Company, which makes the Nerds Rope candy, has since issued a statement of its own in response to the disturbing discovery.
"This product is counterfeit and in no way associated with Ferrara Candy Company," a representative for the company told CNN. "We want to reassure consumers that the Nerds products they find at major retailers across the country and at NerdsCandy.com are safe to consume."
This isn't the first time that candy edibles have been mistaken for the real thing.
In June, a public health alert was issued in West Virginia due to highly potent THC candies that were being circulated.
"It is packaged like candy," US Attorney Mike Stuart noted in the alert. "It looks like popular candy. It tastes like candy. But, instead, it is a very powerful and potent way to get high."
While edibles are sometimes labeled as such, like the ones found by the Johnstown Police Department, parents should understand that not all THC-laced candies have clear labeling. (Especially if kids aren't paying attention to what they're eating as they chow down on their Halloween candy stash.) So make sure to inspect and read all of the labels on your kids' candy before they start eating it — it might just save their life.
