Fox News has found its latest thing to panic over.
The right-wing network is warning viewers about drugs disguised as candy ― especially Halloween candy. Some Fox News personalities are even calling for a halt to traditional Halloween activities.
The topic of drugs has been frequently featured on the network, even more so with the approach of the midterm elections. The Washington Post even noted a jump in references to fentanyl on Fox News when compared to CNN and MSNBC.
The network’s warnings are based in part on a DEA bulletin issued last month about “rainbow fentanyl” that looks like candy and which the agency described as “a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults.”
“I don’t think people will be giving these pills out as Halloween candy,” Joseph Palamar, an associate professor in the department of population health at NYU Langone Health, told CNN. Palamar, who has studied trends in illicit fentanyl, said the colorful pills have been around for years and that the real concern isn’t Halloween. It’s that the people who use the pills may leave them around at home, where children may find and take them.
“The idea that because [the pills] are colorful means that [cartels] must be trying to force fentanyl or ply children or their Halloween candy is markedly ridiculous,” Mariah Francis of the National Harm Reduction Coalition told the magazine.
Twitter users called out Fox News for its over-the-top response and accused the network of bringing right-wing cancel-culture to a beloved holiday:
