It’s that time of year again – time for the annual cautionary column urging safe and responsible cannabis use over the Halloween holiday.
Outside of 4/20, 10/31 may be the most cannabis-friendly date on the calendar. Whether decorating the home or office, carving a pumpkin, putting together a costume or planning a party, many people turn to cannabis for inspiration. And when the haunted day arrives, they’ll also treat themselves to something conducive to creative expression and sensory stimulation.
But “Halloweed” can get out of hand. It’s all in good fun until something horrible happens. Here’s how to avoid some of the pitfalls that lie in wait.
First, while Halloween centers around trick or treating, forget the tricks. Imposing an edible to an unsuspecting recipient, for instance, is not funny and is just plain wrong. Don’t be a ghoul.
If you’re hosting a party, there’s nothing that says you have to serve edibles. People react differently to edibles, it takes time for the effects to kick in and the right potency is harder to predict. For these reasons, serving pot-laced treats could turn into something scary. While homemade pumpkin spice brownies might seem like a fun party treat, BYOE is probably a better idea.
If cannabis-infused edibles do find themselves circulating at your party, please make it abundantly clear to people what they might be putting in their mouths.
Also not funny are cannabis products packaged to look like candy. They’re dangerous and illegal. The people behind those are predators. They’re real-life boogeymen going after our children. Don’t support them.
Speaking of children, consider this your obligatory warning to always safely store your cannabis products in a place where children can’t get at them.
Turns out, this scare about candy laced with fentanyl, heroin and cannabis ending up in your child’s Halloween basket is just a diversionary trick in the War on Halloween.
But what does sometimes happen is a parent gets careless with their cannabis-infused gummies and suckers and their kid gets their grubby hands on them, take them to school and share them with classmates. It almost never happens, but it has happened. And it’ll happen again. Don’t let it happen to you.
Another thing you don’t want to have happen is an encounter with a cop on Halloween night – unless of course they’re with others dressed as the Village People.
That means planning ahead. If you’re going to a party, designate a driver or call a ride service if you’re not fit to drive at the end of the night. You don’t want to get your mugshot taken in clown or sexy kitten makeup. It’s a bad look.
Worse yet, you don’t want to live up to the promise of the next morning, the Day of the Dead.