Healthy Balance

Out of the Archives: THC in Halloween Candy

Illustration shows that an older article is being reused

Kids love candy. And on Halloween, eating a pillowcase’s worth of treats is a rite of passage. Some types of candy, like THC gummies, aren’t made for kids. But when your little ones are hopped up on sugar and looking for more candy, they’re not interested in reading labels.

That’s why we’re rereading this article from our archives: More Than a Sugar High: Pot Edibles Are Putting Kids in the Hospital

Fortunately, the myth of the THC candies ending up in your child’s Halloween haul is mostly just that. A myth. The packaging may be distressingly similar, but the price tag pretty much guarantees no one is giving them away deliberately.

Most of the time when kids get into THC candy, it belongs to their parents. Or, they find it in a house they’re visiting.

Pot Edibles Overdose?

Call the Blue Ridge Poison Center to talk to a UVA Health doctor or nurse. They’ll give you fast, accurate information about the health effects of cannabis.

How To Keep Your Kids Safe

Talk to your young children about not eating candy that you haven’t okayed. If you have teenagers, talk to them about staying away from these products. One of our more recent updates to our article about pot edibles involved high schoolers taking the product recreationally.

Many people operate under the mistaken belief that THC is totally harmless. With many edibles, the dose and exact ingredients are a bit of a question mark. When a person has too much, which for children could be as little as 1 gummy, they may experience:

To date, only one child in Virginia has died of an overdose. But many more have been admitted to the hospital.

Mushroom Gummies

A bigger concern this year might be the current trend: Nootropics. These are mushroom gummies that claim to contain harmless ingredients that improve mental function.

But UVA researchers have found undisclosed schedule 1 drugs inside. This includes drugs that are illegal, and some that can cause medical complications.

In Virginia, a 3-year old child had to stay in our hospital overnight after eating just 2 of these gummies.

Kids & Candy

Most of the candy your kids will get on Halloween will be just that: Candy.
So sit down with them and sort through, making sure to throw away anything:

If you have children under the age of 4, make sure you’re also looking for potential choking hazards.

And while you’re looking, make sure you don’t have packages with a THC warning or mushroom picture on the label.

And put your mind at ease with some of these articles we’ve written about kids and candy. (The conclusion? There’s a lot that’s scary about Halloween. But candy’s not on the list).

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