(NewsNation) — Every year around Halloween the news media begins to report on stories of the dangers parents need to keep an eye out for in their children’s Halloween candy. When it comes to stories on razors in apples or drugs in Halloween candy, the media has a sweet tooth.
But those stories are more fear-based than fact-based, according to University of Delaware sociology professor Joel Best, who has studied media reports on Halloween candy fears for decades.
Best told NewsNation’s “Prime” on Saturday he has never seen any instance where a child has been killed or seriously injured by drug-laced Halloween candy.
And, despite media reports of fentanyl pills disguised as candy that have stoked new fears, Best said it is not likely drug dealers are going to start giving away their drugs for free to small children this year.
“Realize that we’re talking about drug traffickers, and of course drug traffickers are going to try and disguise the drugs as they move them across the country,” Best said. “That’s very different from saying that they’re going to give away drugs, which they could sell for a lot of money to school-age children. I mean, what is the business plan for doing that? You know, assuming that you don’t kill the children and you turn them into addicts? What are you going to get, their lunch money?”
Best’s full interview can be viewed in the video above.