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Save Several House and Senate Republicans have issued warnings during October, including the release of a video PSA, which warns parents about the possibility of brightly colored fentanyl being a threat to children this Halloween.
The move is one that the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration has debunked and a University of Delaware sociology and criminal justice professor, who studies what he calls "Halloween sadism," told Spectrum News that the connection between the two is a "silly" fear.
Those behind the warnings, however, insist that they're just trying to raise awareness about the often deadly drug which has more recently popped up in the form of "rainbow fentanyl." “I come to you today not only as a U.S. senator, but as a fellow American concerned about the health of our nation’s youth this Halloween," said Sen.
Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia, in the PSA posted to her YouTube page on Oct. 6.
Several other GOP lawmakers posted nearly identical videos on their own official YouTube pages, including Sen.
Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.). “The powerful drug cartels are coming after your kids, your neighbors, your students, your family members and your friends," Hyde-Smith said in her PSA.
Hyde-Smith and Capito also appeared in a similar PSA which included appearances from other Republicans including Tennessee Sen.
Marsha Blackburn, Louisiana Sen.
Bill Cassidy, Nebraska Sen.
Deb Fischer, Montana Sen.
Steve Daines, Florida Sen.
Rick Scott, Alaska Sen.
Dan Sullivan, Wyoming Sen.
John Barrasso, Iowa Sen.
Joni Ernst, Idaho Sen.
James Risch and Texas Sen.
John Cornyn.
That video, posted on Oct. 11, was titled "Senate Republicans PSA Warning Parents About the Dangers of Rainbow Fentanyl Ahead of Halloween." Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse of Washington State also issued an op-ed on his website, last week, titled “Be on Alert for Fentanyl ‘Candy’ this Halloween.” According to a press release from Capito on the PSA, Sen.
Dr.
Roger Marshall led the effort to create the public service announcement on this topic.
Marshall spoke exclusively with Spectrum News and denied that the PSAs were being used as a political scare tactic.
The warnings do come as some Republicans running for re-election in November have made crime and fentanyl-smuggling across the border major issues in congressional campaigns. "I'm sorry, the election happens to be the same time as Halloween.
I think some folks are really, really, really missing the point...If everyone just thinks back to what Halloween was like when you were a junior in high school, a sophomore in high school, As I recall, Halloween night is a big experiment night and everybody is sneaking a beer here and there maybe a shot of whiskey, maybe some other recreational drugs as well.
I just want Americans to know that one pill can kill.
If we can save one life, then this is all worth it," Marshall, a physician for 25 years, told Spectrum News .
Warnings about “rainbow fentanyl” emerged in late August, when the Drug Enforcement Administration warned that drug cartels were creating brightly colored fentanyl “to make it look like candy to children and young people.” In late September, the DEA administrator issued a clarification related to "rainbow fentanyl" and any possible connection to Halloween. “We have not seen any connection to Halloween and I want to be very clear: if we see it - I promise you have my commitment - any incredible evidence, we will come out and we will tell you,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in an interview on Fox News.
A spokesperson for the Administrator told Spectrum News on Thursday that Millgram stands by those comments.
Joel Best, professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, also wants to reassure parents that this is just an example of “election-year nonsense." “I have been studying what I call "Halloween sadism," which is people tampering with treats in dangerous ways," Best said. "I have data going back to 1958 and I cannot find any evidence that any child has ever been killed or seriously hurt by a contaminated treat picked up in the course of trick or treating." Marshall contends that his goal was simply to warn parents and added that the PSA was put together at the urging of law enforcement. "It was actually law enforcement that approached us about doing the PSA,” Marshall said. “We're just trying to warn parents out there if you see funny-looking candy, that your children are being home or bringing home, whether they've been out trick or treating or otherwise please be careful of it.” Several law enforcement agencies, across the country, have recently posted photos of fentanyl seizures involving pills that were hidden in candy packaging.
However, they've also said the packaging was an attempt to smuggle the fentanyl into the country and that they did not see the connection between the two as an attempt to entice children to take the often deadly drug. "Nobody is going to give fentanyl to a small child in the first place.
What does that do for a drug dealer?
Drug dealers are hoping to make money and giving away their product is really not the way that they go about that," Best added.
Concerned parents and community members can go to the DEA's Fentanyl Awareness page for resources and additional information.
The DEA adds that if a person encounters fentanyl, in any form, they should not handle it and should call 911 immediately. source