Florida - Thursday October 27, 2022: Attorney General Ashley Moody is warning parents about the dangers of rainbow fentanyl ahead of Halloween. Law enforcement nationwide is seizing bright colored fentanyl that resembles candy—some of these deadly drugs have been found in toy and candy boxes.
Fentanyl is a highly lethal synthetic opioid and just two milligrams can be deadly. In the last few months, law enforcement seized nearly 85 pounds of fentanyl in Florida, enough to kill everyone in 66 of Florida’s 67 counties.
“Halloween can be scary, but nowhere near as scary as rainbow colored fentanyl that looks like candy and can be lethal in minute doses," said Attorney General Ashley Moody at a news conference in Tampa Tuesday. "Whether these drugs are being transported in candy boxes or mixed with other common drugs and sold to unsuspecting users, the threat posed to the safety of kids and young adults is very real"
Extreme precaution must be taken as even the DEA is warning parents about rainbow fentanyl after recently seizing 12,000 fentanyl pills in popular Halloween candy packages at the Los Angeles airport, approximately 15,000 colored-fentanyl pills in Nerds candy boxes and Skittles candy bags, as well as another approximately 15,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills in Lego toy boxes—all within the last month.
"Illicit fentanyl is already the number one cause of death among Americans ages 18 to 45," said Families Against Fentanyl Founder James Rauh. "And now we're seeing an alarming increase in news reports of toddlers being killed by this poison, unaware of what they're ingesting."
