Halloween Marijuana Candy 2014: Will Colorado Trick-or-Treaters Get Pot-Laced Sweets After Legalization? [VIDEO]

Some kids could get both a trick and a treat in Colorado this Halloween if an adult pleasure winds up in their candy bags, CNN reported. Foods and candies infused with THC, the active ingredient in pot, are popular among consumers. Since marijuana has been legalized in the state, a problem could arise for parents who want to keep weed out of trick-or-treaters’ possession.

The complicated problem arises because marijuana edibles look identical to actual candy. "What's happening a lot with the edible manufacturers who have focused on a hard or a soft candy is that the most cost-effective way for them to bring that to the market is to use knock-off candy," said Patrick Johnson, owner of Urban Dispensary. "So they'll buy it in bulk form, then they infuse it by using viscous hash oil. They spray that onto the candy and once that candy dries, there's really no way to tell the difference between candy that's infused and candy that's not infused."

Security measures were instituted in July to help protect inexperienced consumers after people who were not familiar with the drug’s potency, along with children who had accidentally ingested it at school or home, wound up in emergency rooms. The rules created by Colorado Department of Revenue oblige products to have clearly printed health warning labels, child-proof packaging and strict THC limits for individual serving sizes, CNN wrote. It sounds like a proper measure to protect the innocuous and young, except the laws will not go into effect until the day after Halloween.

To keep trick-or-treaters safe, the Denver Police Department has released a YouTube video to alert parents about the potential dangers. One strict rule: If the candy does not come from a major brand like Hershey's, Haribo, Mars or other well-known companies, it would be best to ere on the side of caution and throw it out. Any package that looks like it might have been tampered with should also be discarded.

"If you see something that doesn't look right, apples, gummy bears -- there's a ton of edible stuff that's out there on the market that's infused with marijuana that could be a big problem for your child," Sergeant Brett Hinkle of the Denver Police Department said in an “Ask The Expert” podcast.