Investigators say they have received at least “half a dozen” reports of THC “Medicated Nerds” candy found inside children’s Halloween bags in the South Tuxedo area. The items were packaged along with regular full-sized chocolate bars in individual ziploc sandwich bags and given to the children on Monday night. The packages—Medicated Nerds Rope Bites—look like Nerds candy and contain 600 milligrams of THC. “THC is responsible for how your brain and body respond to cannabis, which can include feeling high,” McKinnon said in a live press release. “The strength of THC can vary in different products. The effect of THC on children can be harmful.” Public Information Officer Const. Dani McKinnon says police have been in the area since Tuesday morning, meeting with parents and gathering information from homes in the area. No motive has yet been found and the candies have yet to be tested. “Investigators are heavily involved in this,” McKinnon said. “Thankfully, there have been no reports of injuries to children so far.” Police are advising parents not to try to handle the packaging — perhaps use gloves while handling the candy and put it in a safe place until they meet with police. Police are withholding any information on charges as they do not know the motive behind the distribution. The police will have to test the items to determine what charges will be brought against the person responsible. “However, we are treating this as a serious incident and we are taking it very seriously,” says McKinnon. The items depicted in the images provided by police are not legally available at licensed cannabis shops in Manitoba, as prohibitions are set out in the federal Cannabis Act which prohibits products that have an appearance that could appeal to young people. The story continues “There’s very specific information that needs to be on these objects,” McKinnon says. “These particular candies that we have seized do not meet those requirements. So at this stage we do not know where the packaging is coming from.” The final rules prohibit the sale of products that incorporate “a color or design that evokes a food product associated with young people” or the sale of a product that evokes, including through similar branding elements, “popular toys or toys associated with with young people, sports equipment or candies, etc.’ Packaging must be “plain” and “child-resistant” and must be designed to “reduce the attractiveness and appeal of cannabis products, particularly to young people”. Packaging for legal cannabis products also requires a standard Canadian cannabis symbol – which does not appear in the image provided by police – as well as a bilingual health warning and relevant product information. Anyone with information or a similar report is asked to call police at 204-986-6129.
