Halloween is just around the corner, which means it’s time to dress up and head out for a night on the town. Whether you’re trick-or-treating or hitting up the biggest parties in your neighborhood, there are still some precautions that should be taken to ensure your safety.

1. Check your candy. Trick-or-treating has always been relatively risky, but it’s even more so now with new methods making it easier to lace candy with drugs or other harmful objects. If the candy is even the slightest bit suspicious, toss it.
2. Dress wisely. Halloween is a crazy holiday and people tend to forget about the law. There’s a high risk of danger, and you don’t want to find yourself in a risky situation without the means to defend yourself. Don’t let your clothing be the reason you can’t get out of a dangerous situation. On another note, you should also take into account that it’s the end of October. The temperature will already be low and after the sun goes down, you can expect it to be even worse. Have some layers on hand to stay comfortable through the evening’s temperature changes.

• Be alert. Once again, the risk for dangerous things to happen on Halloween is exponentially higher. Take your safety seriously and watch out for yourself and others around you.

• Have some form of self defense. Although violence should never be the answer to anything, sometimes it’s necessary. It may be helpful to keep some medium of self defense, whether that be pepper spray or a pocket knife, on hand so you’re not completely lost in the slight chance that you end up in harm’s way. Disclaimer: this does not mean you can use it to scare your friends or joke around. Screwing around can end with legal repercussions and that would probably ruin the night.

• Keep everything legal. The health videos are right. Drugs and underage drinking has an endless amount of adverse effects, whether that be to your health or to your record if you get caught by the police. As we’ve already mentioned, the risks for everything are heightened on Halloween and overdoses, car wrecks and arrests can definitely kill the mood. Play it safe and enjoy the night without the help of drugs or alcohol; you won’t regret it.