Whether it's at the national or local level, one of the media's favorite annual traditions is to partner with their pals in law enforcement to scare and frighten children and parents about terrifying things that never happen on Halloween, like some lunatic poisoning candy or a sex offender kidnapping trick-or-treaters.
This year, Channel 25 got in on the act by sharing the newest media-driven, law enforcement-propagated fear to worry about on the 31st – meth turning up in trick-or-treat bags.
First of all, I guess this would probably be a good time to mention that the bonus question theme for our trivia night this week is Halloween Candy. Every bonus question will be about confectionaries, apples or amphetamines. We may even pass out free candy and drugs!
With that out-of-the-way...
This fear mongering bull shit is more annoying that the David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special. Ignore the fact that your neighborhood Jesse Pinkman isn't very likely to give away their precious meth to 7-year-old kids dressed as princesses and superheroes, or that most kids don't go trick-or-treating around trailer parks. Also, ignore the fact that every man, woman and child in America with an IQ over 55 knows that you're not supposed to eat unwrapped candy for Halloween.
My favorite part about this article, aside from it being shared by 1,700 people, is the final paragraph:
There have been numerous reports in the past of Halloween candy being tainted with drugs or containing dangerous objects such as needles or razor blades. Upon investigation, many of these stories have turned out to be hoaxes, but authorities encourage parents to exercise caution when enjoying Halloween treats.
Yep, they basically admit the story is B.S., but shared it anyway to drum up some good, old-fashioned, fear-induced web clicks. It's nice to see TV news in the Halloween spirit! Maybe in the next couple days they can warn people about real dangers of Halloween – auto-pedestrian accidents.
