TOLEDO, Ohio — Red, orange, green and blue are the colors of some of the chalky fentanyl bricks that were brought to the Hamilton County Crime Laboratory in Cincinnati last month, the first sign of "rainbow fentanyl" in Ohio.
The exact purpose of the coloration is unclear. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration on Aug. 30, the bright colors may be intended to target children. But on Oct. 4, following a drug bust in New York that seized about 15,000 of the pills, the DEA claimed cartels are dying fentanyl to help disguise it as sidewalk chalk or candy as a smuggling tactic.
The Toledo Police Department said its VICE unit has come across the drug. Major Paul Magditch said the Lucas County Sheriff's Office has not seen the drug in the county yet but expects to soon.
"There could be a traffic stop and we could find something that looks like candy but it's compressed like a pill form, and that's what's probably going to happen more than anything," Magditch said.
But just because it looks like candy doesn't mean it's going to end up in anyone's Halloween baskets.
Magditch said despite urban legends that strike fear in parents, during his time with the sheriff's office, he's never seen a single incident of drugs being passed out on Halloween.
"People are freaking out because we're around Halloween and they're thinking people are going to just hand this out to them," he said. "Obviously, there's nothing wrong with being aware of a situation, but I don't think drug dealers will want to be giving away stuff either."
The bright colors and candy-like shape could still be appealing to children though, and Magditch said parents need to do their own research online to protect their kids.
"There's pictures of it, it looks like sidewalk chalk, it looks like sweet tarts or something, but it's compressed into a pill form," he said. "For an adult, it would be a no-brainer. But for a kid, not so much."
Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin. According to the Ohio Department of Health, fentanyl was responsible for 4,000 overdose deaths in 2020.