* NPR…

In August, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration alerted the public to the existence of bright-colored fentanyl pills that resemble candy — now dubbed “rainbow fentanyl.” The DEA warned that the pills were a deliberate scheme by drug cartels to sell addictive fentanyl to children and young people.

Although the agency didn’t mention Halloween specifically, people remain alarmed this holiday following the DEA’s warning.

Drug experts, however, say that there is no new fentanyl threat to kids this Halloween. […]

Dr. Ryan Marino, medical toxicologist, emergency physician and addiction medicine specialist at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, also points to the upcoming midterm elections.

“It also seems to have become heavily politicized because this is a very tense election year with very intense partisan politics,” he said. “It also seems as if people are using fentanyl for political purposes.”

* Today, Fox News published an opinion piece online titled “Halloween fentanyl from Biden’s border crisis the latest horror from this administration” but with no examples. Rep. Mary Miller is also guilty of this Halloween hoax…

The Biden Border Crisis is posing a serious threat to our children. As Halloween approaches, we must warn parents that cartels are trafficking and selling rainbow fentanyl to appeal to kids. These pills are deadly, and parents should carefully check over Halloween candy this year pic.twitter.com/9MlHzsl8mm

— Rep. Mary Miller (@RepMaryMiller) September 29, 2022

* The Tribune reported on a bill earlier this month that would increase penalties for dealing “rainbow fentanyl”…

DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick was looking over bulletins from other law enforcement agencies when he saw something that chilled him — an alert about a new kind of fentanyl that he said, “looks exactly like SweeTarts candy.” […]

He relayed his concerns to state Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) and recently she and some Republican colleagues introduced a bill that would add five years to the prison sentence of anyone convicted of selling fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, in that guise. […]

Laura Fry, of Live4Lali, an overdose prevention group that serves the northern suburbs, was even more skeptical.

“Because of the work we do I know a lot of dealers, and no, they’re not going to be bagging it up and giving it out at Halloween,” she said. “It’s just scaremongering at its best.”

* Earlier this month Danville PD posted on Facebook that parents should be aware of traffic, using sidewalks and fentanyl…

Halloween is right around the corner and our community enjoys being involved in the festivities and giving or receiving “Tricks or Treats”. The Danville Police Department wants to help keep everyone safe. Trick-or-Treating will be permitted in Danville from 5 pm – 8 pm on Monday, October 31st.

Our primary concern is pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the roadways and other risks to our children’s safety. We must also remain concerned with Covid-19 for those who are most vulnerable to it. Parents and guardians must remain vigilant again this year. The choice of allowing your children to trick or treat and responsibility will, as it should, fall on the individual parents, guardians and families. As with any contagious illness, if a parent, guardian or child is not feeling well, please consider not taking the risk. […]

Unfortunately, we always have to keep our guard up for additional risks that could jeopardize the community’s safety. There has been attention given to “rainbow colored” Fentanyl. We have not seen this variation of the deadly drug in Danville or Vermilion County but we want to warn that all candy collected by our children should be inspected by an adult prior to its consumption. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) this variation of the street version of Fentanyl has been located and seized in 18 states and the distributors are targeting the younger population. There is no indication of a threat in our area but we know that the question will be asked based on the coverage by national media. Anything suspicious should be reported to local police. Any unsealed candy should be discarded. Use your best discretion as you would for anything involving our most precious commodity, our kids.

* The AP…

Advocates warn that some of the alarms being sounded by politicians and officials are wrong and potentially dangerous. Among those ideas: that tightening control of the U.S.-Mexico border would stop the flow of the drugs, though experts say the key to reining in the crisis is reducing drug demand; that fentanyl might turn up in kids’ trick-or-treat baskets this Halloween; and that merely touching the drug briefly can be fatal — something that researchers found untrue and that advocates worry can make first responders hesitate about giving lifesaving treatment.

All three ideas were brought up this month in an online video billed as a pre-Halloween public service announcement from a dozen Republican U.S. senators.[…]

Jon DeLena, the agency’s associate special agent in charge, said at the National Crime Prevention Council summit on fentanyl in Washington this month that there’s “no direct information that Halloween is specifically being targeted or young people are being targeted for Halloween,” but that hasn’t kept that idea from spreading.

Joel Best, an emeritus sociology professor at the University of Delaware, said that idea falls in with a long line of Halloween-related scares. He has examined cases since 1958 and has not found a single instance of a child dying because of something foreign put into Halloween candy — and few instances of that being done at all.

* WICS…

The Illinois Poison Center (IPC) is giving out tips to keep your children safe on Halloween.

Officials say it is rare for Halloween candy to be poisoned but IPC manages cases each year involving dry ice, glow sticks, and more.

“It is very rare to get poisoned from Halloween candy, but parents should still check their child’s candy as a safety precaution, especially with the recent increase in the use of candy-like products that contain THC or fentanyl,” said IPC Medical Director Michael Wahl, MD. “While IPC doesn’t typically see poison incidents involving candy during this time of year, we do get calls about glow sticks, dry ice, and other potentially harmful items children eat.”