A warning from the Drug Enforcement Agency about fentanyl designed to look like candy had the co-hosts of the Fox News roundtable show The Five urging that strict precautions be taken on Halloween.
In August, the government agency reported that brightly colored fentanyl pills, powder, and blocks have been seized in 18 states, with DEA administrator Anne Milgram saying the colors are indicative of a “deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the development “really worrisome and really dangerous” in a press conference Sunday and pushed for the government to spend $290 million to address the issue through Overdose Response Strategy teams.
“I’m happy he’s talking about it,” co-host Jeanine Pirro said of Schumer. “But shouldn’t he be sounding the alarm with the White House? Shouldn’t the White House be talking about the fact that this is happening, or would it be too dangerous?”
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“Absolutely,” Brian Kilmeade replied. “If you really cared, you would actually be saying, ‘China to cartel, across the border, into your bedroom, into your living room, into your dorm room.’ That is what he would say if he really cared. This is not hard.”
According to the DEA, Mexican cartels are primarily responsible for the fentanyl—which contains chemicals bought from China—entering the United States.
Jesse Watters then floated the idea of launching a cyber attack against China. “That’s what I would do,” he said, before noting that fentanyl can be more lucrative than other drugs and that it can be “very hard to detect.”
From there, Pirro brought the discussion to how fentanyl would affect trick-or-treating and other Halloween gatherings with candy involved.
“Young children now are going out to trick-or-treat. I mean, basically parents have a decision to make. You don’t let your kids get that candy. It doesn’t mean the person giving it out is intending to harm,” she said.
“You throw away all the Nerds and the Sweet Tarts,” Watters proposed.
“Or,” Dana Perino suggested, “you decide there’s not going to be a massive Halloween parading. There’s going to be small groups with families that we know. We’re going to do this in our backyard or in our basement.”
After Kilmeade said Perino’s idea reminded him of pandemic-era measures, Perino said she was surprised that the Biden administration hasn’t called an “emergency Cabinet meeting” on the rise of fentanyl-related deaths in recent years. She did, however, commend the DEA for “doing as best as they can” to raise public awareness, pointing out its One Pill Can Kill campaign.
