Winnipeg police arrest two after cannabis edibles handed out to kids on Halloween

Two adults are facing a slew of charges after multiple children were given cannabis gummies on Halloween night.

A 53-year-old woman and 63-year-old man were arrested after Winnipeg police searched a home on Coleraine Crescent in South Tuxedo.

It comes after more than a dozen families reported kids between six and 16 found edibles in their treat bags in packaging that resembled candy.

While it is not known if any children in Winnipeg have actually eaten the edibles, parents with kids who went trick or treating on the street said it’s been a frightening ordeal.

“It’s very scary. The very thought is very scary,” said Aditi Pandey, whose 13-year-old twins were trick or treating on the street where investigators believe the cannabis candies were given out. “If something like this is happening we are not safe. We are not safe, the kids are not safe.”

The gummies came in colourful packages similar to a sugary treat but the ‘Medicated Nerds Rope Bites’ are labelled as a potent THC-infused edible, which can be harmful to children.

Pandey checked her kids treat bags after receiving an advisory from their school and did not find any in their Halloween hauls.

The two adults taken into custody are now facing 13 counts of causing bodily harm by criminal negligence, 13 counts of administering a noxious thing with intent to endanger life or cause bodily harm, 13 counts of distributing cannabis to a young person and 13 counts of distributing illicit cannabis.

Investigators said at this point it is unclear why the edibles were given out.

“They’re still working on what a motive might be,” said Const. Dani McKinnon, a public information officer with the Winnipeg Police Service. “I know this is not what you want to hear. I think the community as a whole wants a definite answer.”

Officers said they have taken four packages of the product into their possession and have made arrangements with the remaining victims to get the rest. Police said the gummies still have to be sent off to Health Canada for testing.

“It’s a very long process to get the results back on that,” McKinnon said. “But investigators believe, with the evidence that they’ve received, that these are in fact THC gummies.”

George Smitherman, president and CEO of the Cannabis Council of Canada which represents licensed producers and processors, said products sold in the legal market come in plain, child-resistant packages in stark contrast to the gummies given out in Winnipeg.

“Very limited branding and certainly not with products or packaging that is designed to emulate candy to attract children,” Smitherman said.

Police have said the THC candies given out in Winnipeg don’t meet Canada’s labelling requirements but aren’t sure where they originated.

The packages say the product contains 600 milligrams of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. That’s 60 times more than what’s allowed in legal edibles which can be purchased at retail cannabis stores by people over 19 in most provinces and territories, including Manitoba.

Pandey’s just glad the edibles given out on Halloween were identified quickly by parents.

“I would not have actually checked the candy bags because I would never doubt anyone that they would give such a thing to kids,” Pandey said.

The two adults arrested have been released from custody on a promise to appear, under the Criminal Code. They have yet to be formally charged.

Winnipeg police said it’s possible more people who received the edibles may come forward and are continuing to advise parents and guardians to check their children’s candy.

Anyone else who discovers a similarly packaged product is asked to contact the WPS Major Crimes Unit at 204-986-6219.