--- title: Police Find Sweet Tarts Laced with Drugs description: One Indiana police department caught a suspect in the act of making heroin- and Xanax-laced "Sweet Tart" candies canonical: https://time.com/4780750/sweet-tarts-drugs/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-16T18:01:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:43:41.581Z og:title: Kids Urged to Watch Out for Sweet Tarts Laced with Drugs og:description: Don't take candy from strangers, kids og:url: https://time.com/4780750/sweet-tarts-drugs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28f1e8434768b507/6988963ccf40a83484c437f8/gettyimages-522735549.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Coated multicolored candy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kids Urged to Watch Out for Sweet Tarts Laced with Drugs twitter:description: Don't take candy from strangers, kids twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28f1e8434768b507/6988963ccf40a83484c437f8/gettyimages-522735549.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kids Urged to Watch Out for Sugary Candies That Have Been Laced with Drugs  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner May 16, 2017 6:01 PM UTC  Background of coated multicolored candy Background of coated multicolored candymarkcarper—Getty Images/iStockphoto  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner May 16, 2017 6:01 PM UTC Indiana police have apprehended a man for mixing [narcotics like Xanax](http://time.com/4274651/obama-opioid-addiction-summit/) and heroin into pieces that are disguised to look like the popular candy SweeTarts. They’re concerned that local teens and kids in Greenfield, IN are at risk of consuming the colorful treats, potentially unaware of the embedded risks — and that they’d be dealing with much more than just a sugar high after popping one of the candies, which authorities are referring to as “Sweet Tarts.” The arrest of 30-year-old Jeramie Smith follows a multi-month investigation. During a search of Smith’s house, the authorities discovered [methamphetamine](http://time.com/4607935/these-are-the-10-most-deadly-drugs/), syringes, and baggies. “These drugs post a threat to unsuspecting children whom believe them to be candy,” the police department added in their statement, urging parents to speak with their children about the inherent risks of the drugs — and to notify the department if they come across any of the pastel-colored pastilles. (They collected about 100 from the suspect’s residence.) Smith faces several charges including dealing and possession of a controlled substance. Looks like that old adage — “Don’t take candy from strangers” — remains just as relevant now as ever. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4780750/sweet-tarts-drugs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4780750/sweet-tarts-drugs/"},"headline":"Kids Urged to Watch Out for Sugary Candies That Have Been Laced with Drugs","datePublished":"2017-05-16T18:01:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:43:41.581Z","description":"One Indiana police department caught a suspect in the act of making heroin- and Xanax-laced \"Sweet Tart\" candies","url":"https://time.com/4780750/sweet-tarts-drugs/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Food & Drink","Drugs"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28f1e8434768b507/6988963ccf40a83484c437f8/gettyimages-522735549.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28f1e8434768b507/6988963ccf40a83484c437f8/gettyimages-522735549.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Coated multicolored candy","caption":"Coated multicolored candy","creditText":"markcarper—Getty Images/iStockphoto","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4780750/sweet-tarts-drugs/","name":"Kids Urged to Watch Out for Sugary Candies That Have Been Laced with Drugs"}}]}] ```