Trick-or-Treat, Not Trick-or-Trip: Don’t Get Duped (Episode 328)

Trick-or-Treat, Not Trick-or-Trip: Don’t Get Duped (Episode 328)

A mask changes more than a look—it changes how we read people, how fast we react, and how easily a bad actor can blend in. We walk through a practical, no-drama guide to keeping Halloween joyful and safe: setting clear roles for adults, mapping simple routes, and teaching kids the one line that protects their freedom to have fun—“I need to check with my grown-up.” You’ll hear how small choices around costumes, visibility, and group pacing reduce confusion and close the gaps where problems start.

We get candid about candy checks and today’s drug landscape without spiraling into fear. Counterfeit pills can mimic candy and common medications, and tiny amounts of synthetic opioids can do real harm. Our approach is straightforward: trust sealed, branded treats; ditch homemade and baggie items from unknown sources; use a trade-in at home to keep goodwill high; and give older kids clear, respectful rules for parties and after-events. The aim isn’t to police Halloween—it’s to protect it with habits that scale across neighborhoods and ages.

Along the way, we talk accountability, community vigilance, and why speaking up early is an act of care, not conflict. If a costumed adult tries to separate a child, we model calm questions and safe escalation. If something looks off, we document, report, and keep moving. We also share our mission updates, why we’re pushing so hard to reach more families, and how your shares, likes, and follows help this message reach the people who need it most. Join us, pass it on, and help turn a high-risk night into a high-trust one. If this helped, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with one parent who’ll be out on the sidewalk this year.

Chapter Markers

0:00 Welcome & Mission Reminder

0:52 Calls to Like, Share, Subscribe

1:23 Setting Up Halloween Safety Focus

5:57 Masks, Disguise, and Bad Actors

9:55 Accountability and Vigilance for Caregivers

13:02 Candy Risks and Fentanyl Awareness

21:12 Real-World Drug Mixing and Pill Lookalikes

27:48 Practical Checks: Baggies, Homemade Treats

31:05 Stand Up, Speak Up, Be the Adult

35:31 Voices for VoicesⓇ Goals and Growth

#TrickOrTreat #HalloweenSafety #HalloweenTips #AvoidScams #SafeHalloween #TrickOrTripWarning #HauntedAdventures #YouthMentalHealthMatter #justiceforsurvivors #justice4survivors #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram #truth #factoverfictionmatters #transparency #VoiceForChange #HealingTogether #VoicesForVoices328

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Mission Reminder
• 0:52 Calls to Like, Share, Subscribe
• 1:23 Setting Up Halloween Safety Focus
• 5:57 Masks, Disguise, and Bad Actors
• 9:55 Accountability and Vigilance for Caregivers
• 13:02 Candy Risks and Fentanyl Awareness
• 21:12 Real-World Drug Mixing and Pill Lookalikes
• 27:48 Practical Checks: Baggies, Homemade Treats
• 31:05 Stand Up, Speak Up, Be the Adult
• 35:31 Voices for Voices Goals and Growth

Transcript

VoicesforVoicesJustinAlanHayes: 0:02

Hey everybody, it's Justin here, Voices for Voices. Thank you so much for joining us on this episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. Welcome if this is your first episode, and welcome if this is uh the every episode uh you've uh watched in our catalog up until now. You know, say welcome the people near, welcome the people far. It's a blessing uh to have the opportunity to uh have this uh show, uh this podcast, and to have our awesome viewers and listeners. Uh we can't do this without you. So before we go further, thumbs up, like, follow, subscribe, share. Those are all free things. Please, please, please help us out so we can reach more people and get towards uh even closer to that goal of helping three billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond. So welcome. Yeah, we're gonna uh as the as the month has uh kicked off October of 2025, the month of October uh brings uh really uh the one of the big kickoffs the fall here in the United States, Northeast Ohio, uh leaves begin to change. Uh and there is a uh a day that uh is celebrated here called Halloween, and I don't know a whole lot about the history of that, so we're not gonna cover the history, we're gonna cover safety uh concerns. So we we want everyone to have fun, we want everybody to have a good time, a safe time, and everybody to come home uh in one piece, and with a holiday such as Halloween here in the United States specifically, uh sometimes that doesn't happen, and it could be for a lot of reasons. We're not gonna be able to cover every single reason. We're gonna cover kind of top ones that uh we think uh should be shared as you know, public safety announcement, um, public safety health concerns. Uh because believe it or not, Halloween's one of those, one of those holidays, one of those days, one of those times is celebrated where uh children, adults alike uh will dress up and their favorite character, uh their favorite profession, you know, a firefighter, doctor. Uh and and so with that comes again, costumes, uh, altering kind of appearance and uh in some ways. Uh so we talk about adults, uh people who aren't probably the nicest people uh out there. And if the day of trick or treat, where everybody dresses up in a particular neighborhood and they go door to door, say trick or treat, uh, and and candy gets uh some some time most times candy, sometimes something healthy like a toothbrush, uh gets uh placed in the uh let's say like uh whether it's a giant pumpkin bag uh to to carry uh from from house to house. So we have people dressing up, and as we we covered uh on a previous episode on uh the Comic Con in San Diego County, where something very similar uh goes on. Adults, individuals dress up as their favorite superhero, and that could mask their appearance, for instance, Spider Man has has the face covered, spider, right? And so we're not really sure who that person may be. Are they a nice person? Are they not? What are their intentions? Why are they out and about? And and so at Comic-Con, uh, District Attorney uh Summer Stefan, San Diego County, California, we are uh grateful and thankful that she was able to join us on an episode of our show, where she talked about the human trafficking element that uh has happened at uh Comic Cons in San Diego in the past, and and it comes down to ulterior motives, bad people wanting to do harm, and uh individuals that are innocent and might just go along with that individual because it's like, oh yeah, it's Spider-Man, it's Batman, it's you name it, and then that particular child disappears, and then we look around and go, Oh, well, what happened? Oh, this couldn't have happened to me, this couldn't have happened in my location where I'm from, my geography. Uh, and we say, Well, we've already we've already talked through that. Uh things do happen everywhere. We just need to we just need to understand that, whether we like it or not. So we have Halloween coming up here shortly, and there's gonna be again the you know, dressing up for uh for Halloween. If it's adults, you know, maybe they dress up for Halloween for the trick or treat with their children, they have children. Uh it could be a an adult-only party, and so all the adults, you know, they dress up and they have a party. Uh regardless, if you're not sure who's underneath that mask or underneath that disguise, there could be an opportunity to get duped, and and that is uh when somebody is pretending to be somebody they're not, and so we're bringing this up now because we just want we want to let parents know, we want to let kids know, we want to we want to let teachers know, administrators or church churches, uh or schools, uh, coaches, uh everybody. We we want everybody to be safe, especially at this this time where people take great pride in what they dress up for for Halloween. And that by itself isn't a bad thing. It it's far from it. We want everybody to have fun, have a good time, have a safe time, and again, come back one piece. And so that's why we're sharing this. We we we need to be cautious as parents, as guardians, as caretakers, caregivers. We need to be very cautious when people are dressed up head to toe. You're not sure if that's a child, a kid, uh an adult, somebody that's nice, somebody that's not nice. We need to be more vigilant and can't just let our children run off with with with people like like that just because uh so it's uh again, it's a public safety concern and public safety health. Because if one child, one person goes missing, the health of that child is probably uh I don't want to say that it's always gonna turn up negative, but it could turn up negative, and so I I would say that that's a pretty good example of a public safety concern, public safety health concern, that these are even options of wow, I you know, my my child went with so-and-so and their children trick-or-treating, and you know, they all didn't come back. Where's child one, child two? And everybody starts pointing fingers. Well, it's not my fault, it's your good, and it's your fault. And oh no, it's not my fault, it's your fault because you were in charge, and and then everybody starts pointing fingers, right? Everybody's looking one way or the other because nobody wants to be accountable anymore. Everybody wants to just pretend, like you know, that I I see nothing, I know nothing, and that needs to stop. People need to be held accountable, not only the people that are doing negative things and and bad things uh to our children or even adults, uh, but the people, the caretakers, caregivers, the parents need to be held accountable as well. And I'm not sorry to say that. If you don't want you don't like hearing this, turn the channel. I don't care. We're telling it like it is. And if you think you got it all under control, you know, that your parent or parents of the year, then turn the channel. You don't need to hear anything I have to say, you don't need to hear anything from voices for voices because you already know everything. So you don't you you don't you don't need to tune in. And frankly, it would do us a service if you would turn the channel, so you can make room, we can make room for people actually give a damn. So that's thing one dressing up, the costumes. Thing two is trick-or-treat, perceived, assumed, some type of tree, and wrapping, and wrapper goes into your bucket, your you know, your plastic, pumpkin, uh, whatever, however your your your child or you are collecting candy and and treats uh from house to house. We have an epidemic called uh uh a fentanyl crisis. That's right, fentanyl. If you haven't heard of it, look it up. You've probably been living under a rock if you don't know what fentanyl is and live in the United States. It's one of the deadliest drugs out there on the street, and I think it's sibling xylazine is even much more potent than fentanyl. And fentanyl is, I believe, ten or a hundred times more powerful than heroin, and people are dying and have been dying for years. It's been coming across the border, it's been coming on vessels, international waters, coming across the Mexican-U.S. border in the towns and cities where you and I live, and people where you and I live are dying and have died. And I don't know about you, but I got a I got an issue with that. When people are bringing in poison to make a buck that and a high likelihood may end the life of that individual that takes it. Because number one, some people know that what they're taking is fentanyl, but number two, fentanyl and xylosine and these other designer offshoots are coming in to other uh other drugs, and so if a person is expecting to buy cocaine, there could be some fentanyl or some xylosine that was in there to cut it. Uh, so that's how you make if uh you know it this isn't something that I'm giving away here, this is just plain and simple 101 is if you have one gram of something and you add something to it, you have something that's more than one gram. And when you're in the business as a drug dealer of selling by the quantity, well, I can make time and a half, uh, yeah, time and a half if I oh, here's a gram and a half, not just a gram. But not knowing that you know, and in that extra half a gram is one of the most deadliest drugs in world history. That just a couple couple grains. Ever been to a beach? Teeny tiny grains of sand only takes a very uh small amount to end an individual's life, and there's some people, and this has happened, so I'm not making this up. Some people, because the way fentanyl can be again, it can be pressed together with other drugs in the pill form as well, so that you could think you're take taking, I don't know, uh oxycottin, or I don't even know. It is something that is in pill form that's a drug that is illegal, it's a controlled substance, and so an individual could think, oh well, I'm taking Xanax or whatever you want, whatever you want a name, and they buy it on the street or from a friend or a friend of a friend, and they think, oh, I'm getting Xanax, but they don't realize that as that Xanax pill, as it was being pressed, it part of what was being pressed with it was fentanyl or xylosine or again any of these other offshoots, also the drug dealers make more money because they're able to sell again by the quantity. So if you have one gram of cocaine and you have two grams of other things, but is sold as three grams of cocaine, what you have is two times more of other substances than the cocaine, which you which a person in this hypothetical could think that they're taking good under life. We've heard of you know college parties, experimentation. People end up in a hospital because they thought they were taking that they bought one thing and were taking one thing and ended up oh well it was uh laced with fentanyl, carfentanol, xylosine. And so as we talk about Halloween, right, people are handing out candy at you know each each door, each home. And then because it doesn't take a whole lot of fentanyl, there could be pills that are pressed that could look like Smarties. You look up look up what a smardy is. It's uh like a a circular could be taken as a person from the outside looking at it as oh, like that's that's candy, or that's a pill of some some kind because of the the the look of it and the texture of it, and so some individuals, the not nice individuals, the bad kind of individuals that we're trying to uh protect our children, our loved ones, the people we care for from decide, oh well, I'm gonna put uh I'm gonna lace these smarties with the exact shape, one of the colors, and put it in with the smartie pack. Or they'll have the baggie and then they'll have some things in inside a baggie. And so we would strongly say that if your child comes home from a trick or treat with something that's in a baggie, and there's things inside, like, oh, it's oh, it's a homemade cookie or homemade this, throw it out, don't even take the chance because it's happened before, and unfortunately it's gonna happen again, where individuals who are up to no good are gonna put this stuff in front and as close to our children as as as humanly possible. And because it only takes a little bit of fentanyl or cardifentanol or xylosine, again only takes a couple teeny tiny grains, like teeny tiny grains of sand. The color doesn't matter. Like, oh, this is called the I don't know, back in my not so good days where I was caught up with the wrong crowd and uh on an occasion was experimenting with some things I shouldn't have been. There would be like one of the one of the things was called ecstasy. And ecstasy, they would it would have like different names, but like a different potency, like oh, this is like the strongest, and it's gonna make you have whatever sensations and feelings. This other one is gonna for be for this or that or the other, and um and I remember I don't remember the exact names, but I just know that there were there are multiple names given for these uh these particular drugs. Like, oh, this one's uh called the yellow jacket, and this is the bluebird or what have you, just to give you an idea. And so we want people to be vigilant. You see something, say something. Don't become another statistic, don't have your child or somebody else become another statistic because you it's not convenient for you, because you're you're drunk or you're having a good time with the adult friends, and you know, oh the kids are back from trick-or-treating, and yeah, go ahead, eat that, can eat some of that candy if you'd like, you know, pick a couple pieces and then you know, save the rest for a different day. Uh it's time to stand up, people. It's not time to sit down, stand up. Because if you won't stand up for your child, who else is gonna stand up for them? Who? Who's gonna care enough about your who's gonna care enough or more about your child than you, the parent? Nobody. So please listen, watch, share, thumbs up, subscribe, follow, all those things. Get this stuff in front of as many people, make this go viral, make voices for voices in general go viral. We're one of the top shows in all the world. We are that's just the way it is. We're over 325 episodes in counting. We weren't supposed to hit 300 episodes total until the end of calendar year 2025. And guess what? The last time I looked, we're still in the month of October, so that gives us two more months. So we're way ahead of our goal because we want to help people, and it's not just our families and our children that we want to help. We want to help your children, we want to help your friend, your children's friends. We want everybody, we don't want anything bad to happen to anybody. That's why we're doing this. It's to help people. So please stand up, be a voice, share that voice. If you're with somebody and they don't want to do it, go do it yourself. I've had to do things a lot myself. I've had a lot make a lot of different uh different reports by myself because people didn't want to they don't want to go with me. Or they thought like, oh, you know, it's not that big of a deal, or I don't know. Well, to me, it is a it is a pretty big deal, you know. My my child is is a big deal, and your child is a big deal, and your nephew or niece or grandson or granddaughter or cousin, they're all big deals. We're all God's children. So I'll be damned if we're gonna miss an opportunity to come in front of you, uh, whether it's uh you know through the earbuds or uh on the TV screen, uh phone, uh netbook, iPad, laptop, what have you. Airport lounge. Come on. Let's ride this train, get on the train. Don't do it for me. Do it for you, do it for your child, do it for your class that you're teaching that has 20 children in it or 15 children. Do it for them, please. It makes us good. It makes makes us feel good that we're helping people, and we know we're helping people, and we're getting more and more uh fan mail, then uh a high majority of it is positive, and the negative stuff is well, you shouldn't be talking about that, or you know, you you have this individual on the show, and and you know what? Turn the channel. Why take a why take a breath uh and and say something negative, or why take a couple of uh keystrokes to write a a message that's derogatory and mean? You have something better to do, I have something better to do than to read that garbage. So the real question is do you want to help or don't you? That's what it comes down to. We want to help, and we are helping, and so that that's what voices for voices is, what it has been, is, and will be We'll have conversations, share stories, share experiences. If you don't like what what what's being shared, again turn the page, turn turn our show off, turn put another one on. Don't waste my time. Don't waste your time. If you mean it, then we're we're doing it. We're gonna do this together. We are doing this together. We have been doing this together. And yeah, it's been hard, it's been rough, it's been time consuming, it's been a lot of late nights, early mornings, a lot, lot of a lot of different things. It's all in the name of helping people. That's why when we say we want to help three billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond, we truly mean it. We're not messing around, we're not joking. It is, it's a humongous goal. But I know the reason I'm here, and it's to help people, and so I'm gonna help, I'm gonna share until I can't share no more, until others are unable to share anymore. That doesn't even go to mention the books that we have published under Voices for Voices Publishing, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Voices for Voices Publishing, first uh first comic called The Adalan. We have books coming out at a clip that is only just going to continue as the days go by. And who knows? I don't know, I'm not God, but the way things are shaping up, there may just be some production going on as well that's coming to your screen or screens at some point. And you just might be surprised at some point when you see a a book or more at one of your favorite retailers like Walmart and Target. So you can either jump on the bandwagon now, or you can be doing your shopping, and you can see that Voices for Voices logo right there as you're passing that book section, as you're looking for a gift, a birthday gift, uh another holiday gift. Or you might find an RPG, a role-playing game. You might find the guide that tells you how to how to play with the different dice. So I can assure you, this is not the only method, the only way, and mean the voices for voices is uh is and will continue to be making a difference. It has only just begun, everybody. The crime the Christian Comic Con convention that we were at a couple weeks ago. That press conference was to kick off Voices for Voices Publishing publicly. And so we want to thank each and every one of you who's been with us, who's shared, who's liked, who's given us a thumbs up, subscribe, follow. And maybe even purchased a book or two or three or four electronically, or maybe paperback. There's more coming. There's more coming. So this Halloween, let's watch out for those individuals, those children of ours and of others and relatives, so they don't get mixed up with a person that is up to no good, and that they don't have a baggie of candy in their bag that they go to open up and and and uh, oh, I got smarties. Oh my favorite, my favorite. Oh, I love the purple again, could be laced with something, and you know, maybe somebody in our household says, Well, that's rude if we throw this away. This is rude if we throw this away. Okay, well, is it rude if it hurts our child or children, our loved one? How rude is it then? Well, again, if you want to help, you want to do something, start it, start it at the house, or the apartment, or the dorm, wherever that may be. That have enough fentanyl to kill thousands of Americans. People have a problem with that. I don't have a problem with that. I don't care who the president is, it's a real problem, and he's doing something about it. So y'all might be jealous that you're, you know, your your whoever your pick was for president or in in the past and and all that, uh, that they're not in the White House, and you know, maybe pout about that uh and be all upset. Like, oh, I can't believe you know he made a strike against this boat that had fentanyl and it was gonna come in and uh hurt, if not kill a lot of people. I say, what's what's most important to you? Caring about some drug smuggler bringing drugs in to our country? Is it more important for us to care about them or about our children? I don't know about you, but I'm more concerned about my child than somebody decides to want to take a speedboat from a country that plays some role in bringing fentanyl, carfentanol, xylozine, list goes on. So I say keep it up, do more of that. That's the way you deter. You make it happen. And so thank you, President Trump, for doing that. You're the only president that I know of that has done something, some things like this. So the less of those illicit drugs, especially those ones that are hundreds of times more potent than heroin, which was once considered one of the most, and still is considered a potent drug. They could kill by taking it. Thank you for being with us. We love you, we miss you. Come back again. This has been another episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. This is Justin Alan Hayes signing off this time. So, until we see you again, please be a voice for you or somebody in need. Bye bye, everybody.