Halloween Kills

Halloween kills.

Or at least sometimes it does. As “spooky season” approaches, decorations aren’t the only thing that’s scaring people. Halloween is not just about free candy anymore.

This holiday has the highest crime rate, followed by the fourth of July. For child pedestrians, it is the deadliest day of the year. Sarah Paxton, a teacher at highland says, “I trust my kid. I’m teaching him life skills, like how to cross a street. As long as I know where he is going and who he’s with, I’m not worried about it.” Vandalism and theft dramatically spike every year without fail. Following the statistic that only 28% of child kidnappings are committed by strangers, there is a lack evidence that shows that Halloween sees more children kidnapped than normal. However, there is an increase of isolated cases of children who are kidnapped after being coaxed into strangers’ houses under the false premise of candy. Minors are safest walking in big groups and are definitely safer being indoors after dark.

Drugs constantly ravage the teen and young adult demographic and recently a new drug has made a terrifying appearance that brings a whole new meaning to the word scary. Rainbow fentanyl is the drug on all concerned parents’ mind this year. It made its terrifying appearance in August, and only seems to be growing bigger. Ten milligrams of fentanyl, equal to 10-15 grains of table salt, is considered to be a lethal dose. Out of the 107,622 overdoses in America a year, 66% of them are because of synthetic opioids, like fentanyl.

Fentanyl itself is not a necessarily new drug, however the mass appearance of the brightly colored fentanyl is what makes the issue much more concerning. According to the DEA, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, drug cartels make the drug look like candy to appeal to minors and young adults. It is targeted to drive addiction in young people and create more of a market for the cartels. Rainbow fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin 100 times more potent than morphine and can make its appearance in the forms of powders, pills, blocks, and most commonly, candy. They can be made to look like any brightly colored candy and are hidden amongst the real candy in the package.

Although there are some real dangers to Halloween, like drugs and car accidents, there are plenty of ‘fake dangers’ that circulate communities every year without fail. There are hundreds of urban legends surrounding Halloween, but there are a few that just refuse to die. Paxton says, “They were around when I was a kid, and I’m still hearing about them, I don’t think they are a real threat though.” Legends that children find hilarious, and that adults find terrifying. Razor blades in apples, poison in candy, murderers behind masks, and needles in free food, are all examples of dangers that pose almost no threat to children and are fantasized about more than they actually occur. Although there have been occasional cases of all of these across the United States throughout the years, not one child has ever died due to them.

Halloween is a holiday to be wary of, however the majority of minors are not at risk of falling prey to the dangers of the holiday. Walk in big groups, stay away from unknown neighborhoods, look both ways when crossing the street, and check candy before consumption, and everyone will be safe.