The facts and fanciful fears about the 'rainbow fentanyl' Halloween freakout

Don't let a brightly colored talking point ruin your trick-or-treating

A rainbow.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images)

It is Halloween season once again, meaning new costumes, another glut of packaged candy, spooky decorations, and the annual tradition of parental panic over some scary new threat to young trick-or-treaters. This year, the anxiety-producing peril is "rainbow fentanyl," brightly colored pills, and other forms of the synthetic opiate behind a truly frightening number of overdose deaths.

"We're coming into Halloween and every mom in the country is worried, 'What if this gets into my kid's Halloween basket?'" Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel suggested on Fox News. Here are some facts, fears, and fanciful fictions surrounding rainbow fentanyl:

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.