Two facing charges after cannabis candy given out

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This article was published 01/11/2022 (784 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two people are facing criminal charges after parents reported their children had been given bags of cannabis candy while trick-or-treating Monday.

Winnipeg Police Service investigators said 13 reports had been filed about the THC edibles being found in treat bags in south Tuxedo.

Police identified a “suspect residence” on the first 100 block of Coleraine Crescent, near the intersection of Taylor Avenue, where officers executed a search warrant and arrested a 63-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman.

Both are facing 13 charges each of cause bodily harm by criminal negligence, administer a noxious thing with intent to endanger life or cause bodily harm, adult distribution of cannabis to a young person and adult distribution of known illicit cannabis.

The two suspects were released on a promise to appear. The charges have not yet been formally laid in court and their names were not made public.

None of the children, aged from six to 16, who reported receiving the edible cannabis had eaten it, Const. Dani McKinnon said at a news conference Wednesday.

However, she said police do not need to prove someone was hurt to lay a charge of cause bodily harm, just that an accused’s actions could have led to harm.

“We believe the community is safe,” McKinnon said, but added there could be more of the illicit cannabis candies out there.

“We want parents to check the treat bags and we encourage you to… make a report if you do find these THC Nerd candies in your kid’s Halloween candy.”

The spokeswoman said investigators have spoken with all of the families, have picked up four of the candy packages and plan to recover the rest.

It does not appear the candies were handed out accidentally, considering the pattern and frequency.

However, McKinnon said it’s unclear why the psychoactive gummies were handed out to trick-or-treaters.

“(Investigators are) still working on what a motive might be… I think the community as a whole wants a definite answer, the police want a definite answer. I don’t think we’re going to be able to provide anything really concrete today,” she told reporters.

Jocelyn Cordeiro, 49, found the illicit candies in her nine-year-old daughter’s treat bag on Halloween.

“It was surreal — I was kind of horrified,” Cordeiro said Wednesday.

“Our 13-year-old has in the past heard stuff like that and had been concerned about it and my response has always been: ‘You don’t have to worry about that, people don’t hand out stuff like that, that’s way too much money, it just doesn’t happen’ — and then it happened.”

She was glad to hear suspects had been identified.

The bags state they contain 600 mg of THC, the main psychoactive substance in cannabis. McKinnon said police will send the gummies to Health Canada to be tested.

The edibles were packaged along with regular full-size chocolate bars inside sandwich bags.

Police provided images of two different packages on Tuesday, including one that is “super sour” in flavour. An image of a third flavour of candy, “seriously strawberry,” was shared on social media.

The bags do not have warning labels normally placed on cannabis products sold legally in stores in Canada. All three state they are “for medical use only” and appear to have been bought on the black market.

Bob Freedman, who has lived on Coleraine Crescent since 1986, was puzzled when he learned the cannabis candies were handed out somewhere on his block.

“Holy mack, that could have resulted in some serious illness,” the 77-year-old said.

McKinnon confirmed police had received a report of a parent finding a chocolate bar with a thin sharp object, possibly a pin, inside of it in North Kildonan. Officers are investigating the incident.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera