The leaves are changing, it’s cooling down, and children across the nation are elated to finally go door-to-door trick-or-treating and get their annual share of candy. However, parents aren’t as excited; they fear that their children may be getting a little something extra in their pillow cases this Halloween.

With the recent legalization of recreational marijuana, parents are scared that avid users of the plant are going to try and slip a different kind of treat into childrens’ Halloween candy. Edible marijuana is legal, and it comes in many forms including brownies, lollipops, chocolate bars, beef jerky, marshmallows, and gummies. These are all potential treats for trick’or’treaters.

Marijuana or more commonly known as weed, pot, ganja, or the devil’s lettuce is ground up buds of the plant Cannabis sativa. The effects or ‘high’ of marijuana come from the Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC.) The effects can vary from creativity, energizing, and talkativeness to sleepiness, relaxation, and pain relief. Cannabidiol (CBD,) a chemical in marijuana, has been known to help or heal those dealing with diseases such as insomnia, depression, anxiety, parkinsons, epilepsy, and apraxia. In 1996, California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana.

In recent years, marijuana has even proven to decrease the risk of cancer. According to Cancer.org, “…scientists reported that THC and other cannabinoids such as CBD slow growth and/or cause death in certain types of cancer cells growing in lab dishes.”

Though marijuana has been proven to be beneficial among adults, underage consumption is illegal- and potentially dangerous. Especially among children under age 12, marijuana usage can lead to short term effects, such as problems with memory and learning, loss of coordination, distorted perception, trouble with thinking and problem solving. 

Though parents have the fear marijuana users are going to ruin their kids’ Halloween, many connoisseurs say quite the contrary.

“If you think I would waste my milligrams of THC on some kids,” said an anonymous source. “You’re not right in the head.”

This source may have a point, a bag of high-end edibles can range anywhere from $50-100 depending on their strengths and ingredients. Beyond this, edibles on the legal markets are labeled with THC warnings all over the bag, and tend to look more like an unappetizing lump of chocolate or an oddly shaped hunk of gummy candy than anything a child would receive for halloween. This isn’t any coincidence either, many legal states have already put into place laws forbidding the production of THC edibles made to resemble fruits, animals, humans, or anything else that would entice a child to chow down. However, in cases of homemade edibles, it’s been recommended for years to throw out any homemade Halloween treats like cookies or brownies, regardless of marijuana. 

It seems as though generations have always found something to look out for when going trick’or’treating, from razor blades in apples, to pins in snickers, and most recently, pot infused candy.