Couple charged after 13 kids got cannabis candy in Halloween treat bags

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This article was published 04/01/2023 (1020 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The two people arrested by Winnipeg police for allegedly handing out suspected cannabis candies to trick-or-treaters in Tuxedo last Halloween have been formally charged.

Sheldon Chochinov, 63, and Tammy Sigurdur, 53, are each charged with 13 counts of distributing cannabis to a young person and 13 counts of distributing cannabis knowing it is illicit, court records show.

The pair had an administrative appearance at the provincial court counter Tuesday; they did not appear in front of a judge. Their next court date is Feb. 2.

Winnipeg Police Service investigators said shortly after Halloween that 13 reports had been filed about the THC-containing edibles being found in treat bags in south Tuxedo.

Police identified a “suspect residence” on the first 100 block of Coleraine Crescent, near the intersection of Taylor Avenue, where officers executed a search warrant and arrested a 63-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman.

The two suspects were released on a promise to appear and their names were not made public at the time.

None of the children, aged from six to 16, who reported receiving the edible cannabis had eaten it, Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said at a news conference Nov. 2.

The bags of Nerds Rope candies stated each contained 600 mg of THC, the main psychoactive substance in cannabis, photos released by police in the fall showed.

McKinnon said at the time police would send the gummies to Health Canada to be tested — she confirmed Wednesday the service has not yet received those results.

The bags did not have warning labels normally placed on cannabis products sold legally in stores in Canada. All three stated the candies were “for medical use only” and appeared to have been bought on the black market.

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At the time, police said it did not appear the candies were handed out accidentally, considering the pattern and frequency.

McKinnon said Nov. 2 it’s unclear why the psychoactive gummies were handed out to trick-or-treaters.

— with files from Dean Pritchard

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera

Erik Pindera
Reporter

Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020.  Read more about Erik.

Every piece of reporting Erik produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.