INTERVIEW | Neither Trick Nor Treat: What Parents Need to Know About ‘Rainbow Fentanyl’

The end of October is nearing, which means Halloween is just around the corner for many American kids. The holiday, known for trick or treating and consuming copious amounts of candy, is a bit spookier than normal this year: Parents now have to worry about the possibility of so-called rainbow fentanyl ending up in their kids’ candy bags.

“Because this has been a relatively new phenomenon regarding the rainbow fentanyl and as Halloween is so close, parents need to be particularly concerned about what their children are ingesting for Halloween, because it has been found in Nerds candy packaging as well as Skittles,” says Lora Ries, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center. (The Daily Signal is Heritage’s multimedia news organization.)

Fentanyl, a highly lethal synthetic opioid, has plagued communities throughout the United States. Just recently, roughly 300,000 “rainbow fentanyl” pills and more than 20 pounds of powdered fentanyl were found in the Bronx, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reported. 

“[Parents] need to talk to their kids, as best they can age appropriately, to look out for rainbow-colored candy and two, parents themselves should be checking packaging,” Ries advises. 

Ries joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to talk about rainbow fentanyl, the ongoing crisis at the southern border, and what much of the media is missing.

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