Joe Rogan and Dr. Phil Hype Danger of Halloween Candy Fentanyl Before Producer Tells Them Story May Be Fake

Joe Rogan and Dr. Phil McGraw discussed the increase of fentanyl in circulation within the United States and fears surrounding its prevalence during Halloween on The Joe Rogan Experience Friday.

As Dr. Phil warned that many young kids are accessing the pills via social media apps including Snapchat, the discussion turned to rainbow colored fentanyl and the fear stoked by media that the candy could be mistaken for Halloween treats.

“What they’re doing now, Joe, is they’re putting them in these pastel colors,” McGraw said. “They’re making them look like these candies that the kids get. And kids are gonna see these things around and pick them up and think they’re like SweeTarts or whatever and bite into them.”

“If I was a parent, I would go to the store and buy every kind of candy I could find and as soon as my kids came home from trick or treating, I would take their pumpkin and dump it into the trash and then fill it back up with candy I knew was good and hand it back to them. I wouldn’t let them take a single piece of candy from trick or treating cause you don’t know what’s in there,” McGraw continued.

“That was always the fear right, when we were kids, is that someone’s gonna sneak in a razor blade into an apple,” Rogan replied.

But after the two went back-and-forth for several moments, Rogan’s producer interjected that the story regarding rainbow fentanyl could possibly be fake — citing an NPR article saying the threat toward Halloween candy was unfounded. Vernon pulled up the article titled, “Is ‘rainbow fentanyl’ a threat to your kids this Halloween? Experts say no” — which was published Oct. 11.

“Let’s scroll down and see what they say,” Rogan said — reading the article live on air.

“It looks like candy,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram told NBC News. “In fact, some of the drug traffickers have nicknamed it Sweet Tarts, Skittles.”

The DEA alert didn’t mention Halloween, but fears about “rainbow” fentanyl and the holiday went viral.

The original DEA warning was published on Aug. 30, but began to circulate when it was updated in October to reflect more states in which the rainbow fentanyl had been found.

“‘Drug policy experts contacted by NPR agree there’s no new fentanyl threat this Halloween. Many are also skeptical of the DEA’s original warning. They don’t believe Mexican drug cartels and street dealers have launched any new campaign targeting children,'” Rogan read.

“I don’t think they’re targeting children,” McGraw clarified. “I think the fact that they are making these things in pastel colors make children vulnerable to picking these things up — You wanna argue over the word ‘targeting.'”

“I’m not saying they’re targeting, I don’t care if you use the word targeting or not, it’s dangerous. And I’m just saying — you know, my grandkids, they won’t be getting any candy out of that and it’s not that anywhere they’re going is gonna be dangerous, giving out fentanyl to kids. It’s just they don’t know where they’re it’s coming from,” he added.

“You’re not getting it from a store,” Rogan clarified.

Listen above via The Joe Rogan Experience.

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