The Denver Police Department has done a good job of scaring people into thinking there will be a rash of regular pot users willing to spend ten bucks on a candy bar so that they can secretly dose a little kid while trick-or-treating on Halloween; see a DPD video below.
In fact, Denver cops have made such a big deal of such possibilities that cops around Omaha, Nebraska, have started warning residents there to beware of people handing out Colorado-made pot candy.
“We know that they are out there,” La Vista cop Dana Miller told her local ABC News affiliate, KETV. “Children aren’t going to know any different. And the taste? They might not even know the taste is different at all, either.”
“If you don’t see something like Hershey, Nestle, something you recognize, the parents should definitely examine that,” Officer Brian Mathew added. “It’s not a real problem just yet, but just because of our proximity to Colorado,” it could be, he believes.
That’s because, obviously, someone who risks arrest to drive to Omaha from Colorado with bags full of expensive THC-infused treats is just going to give them away to children and risk being further prosecuted for even more egregious crimes.
Here’s the Denver Police Department’s approach to the issue:
Nebraska media outlets have been having a field day with this story, showing photos of outdated pot-candy labels that resembled copyrighted designs by Nestle and Hershey’s. “Pot Tarts and Buddha Fingers: It sounds funny, but it’s downright scary if it ends up in your child’s Halloween stash,” KETV anchor Brandi Peterson said during Monday night’s broadcast.
Colorado cannabis and marijuana products have been consistently vilified in Nebraska headlines, and some state leaders and lawmakers say they will seek tougher penalties for pot in the coming legislative session. Cops in Sidney, Nebraska, a small border town, said last week that 50 percent of their traffic stops result in marijuana-possession charges and arrests and claim the department has already run out of overtime pay. The Sidney police chief told the Kearney Hub that Colorado pot is “deteriorating a quality of life” in the town of 7,000 and implied that it’s keeping cops so busy they can’t focus on other crimes.
As a result, some law-enforcement officials want the $150 fine for first-time possession increased to $1,500, claiming it will act as a deterrent — though the fine increase would directly benefit local cops by padding overtime pay they say they need for the increased court appearances brought on by pot-traffic stops.