Two San Diego fathers tracked down the neighbors they believe handed out psilocybin-laced gummies to their young children during Halloween trick-or-treating in Ocean Beach.
Cameron Hunter and his friend Frank Carey took their kids door-to-door last Friday evening and later discovered iridescent bags containing mushroom gummies mixed in with the collected candy. One package held roughly 5 grams of psilocybin, a potent psychedelic dose. The fathers then returned to the residence they suspected as the source and recorded the confrontation.
“My 2-year-old went up and grabbed one and started walking away with it in his hand,” Carey said San Diego. “I noticed the picture had a giraffe and words that looked like they were melting. I took it out of his hand and saw that there was a dosage on the front of it. Five grams, [then I] flipped it around and read ‘psilocybin mushrooms.'”
The packaging contained ten 500mg gummies in a colorful wrapper featuring a giraffe and tropical flavoring, which Carey said closely resembled legitimate confectionery. “The candy packaging resembled bespoke candy, so it was very similar to something you’d buy at a candy store,” he said.
In the recorded exchange, one father held up the bags and told a woman at the door, “These all have drugs in them.”
“I didn’t realize they were bad, I don’t know,” the woman responded.
“They’re psilocybin mushrooms,” one of the men continued, “like, [they’re] kids.”
The homeowner, Shawn Barger, has since disputed the accusations and claimed the expensive gummies could not have come from him. “I looked it up and they’re like 20 bucks a piece. It’s probably like $300 worth of gummies. I don’t have $300 to, like, spend to make myself look bad, you know what I mean. It’s ridiculous,” he said.
Barger also acknowledged the property’s local notoriety. “I don’t know, everyone thinks it’s like the witch house or the dead house or the scary house or something,” he added.
Both fathers expressed regret over visiting the residence during their Halloween route. They subsequently filed a police report with the San Diego Police Department, which has opened an investigation into the incident.
Lt. Cesar Jimenez of the San Diego Police noted that laboratory testing would be required to confirm the presence of controlled substances before any charges could be pursued. He praised the parents for supervising their children, inspecting the collected candy, confronting the individuals believed responsible, and promptly notifying authorities.
Under California law, furnishing a controlled substance to a minor constitutes a serious felony offense that can carry years of prison time.
The incident occurred during evening trick-or-treating in the Ocean Beach neighborhood, where Hunter and Carey had taken their young children house to house before the discovery prompted their return to confront the residents.