Most of these reports do not add up to the same circumstances alleged in the current ULs. But in the melting pot of urban legends, these facts have provided great ingredients for a paranoid stew. An argument could be made that these ULs are close cousins to the familiar Halloween scarelore of poisoned candy , and apples with razor blades . All this, of course, went downhill fast with the notorious Tylenol murders of 1982. Additionally, Halloween candies are individually wrapped.
Most folktales are simply cautionary stories, told to inspire fear or shared revulsion.
Mild hysteria erupted in Montreal as a result of the UL, and clubs in Toronto and San Diego have reported reduced business after the appearance of unfounded warnings of needle attacks. These stories do more harm than that. That this is a prejudiced assumption is obvious. The idea that AIDS patients may also be murderers is ludicrous. It's a disease.