Some things never change.

Back in the 1950s, newspapers and radios warned parents to inspect their trick-or-treaters’ largess. “There are reports of razor blades in apples! Bubble gum might be sprinkled with lye! Popcorn balls may be coated with camphor!” These reports have never been verified. Still, trick-or-treaters endured the agony of waiting until parents inspected every bit of their treats before indulging in their sugar high.

One Halloween legend is true. In 1959, a dentist in California handed out chocolate-coated laxative pills to youngsters causing thirty children to fall sick. “These look like tiny Snickers. I’ll eat a whole bunch of them.”

Dentists just don’t get the Halloween Spirit. A dentist gave out toothbrushes instead of candy. That worked for about 10 minutes until the notorious Trick-or-Treat Grapevine gave the word to avoid that house.

The razor blade apple and adulterated candy scares are still with us. Now that marijuana is legal in many states (even in stodgy Pennsylvania medicinally), the Great 21st Century Halloween Scare is “Weed Candy”. Today’s dentists and other sadists supposedly give out “look-alike” treats laced with THC. In fact, THC-infused snacks are readily available on-line. They are a little pricey. A bag of infused Cheese Curls runs $15 and a bag of THC-laden Sour Patch Kids will set you back $20. Apples and razor blades are a lot cheaper.

Fortunately, the Weed Candy Scare is undocumented just like the Lye Bubblegum and Camphor Popcorn Ball Frights of the past.

We “pet parents” face our own Halloween-related problems. It is quite dark during our 6:45 AM walk at this time of year. Those little ghosts and goblins often drop some of their loot on the street. Jasmine has an unerring nose for chocolate and sugar. If she got into every bit of candy dropped on the street, that California dentist would look like a piker.