THC-infused gummy bears send 2 Mountview Middle School students to the hospital
HOLDEN - Two Mountview Middle School students were sent to the hospital on Thursday after eating gummy bear candies infused with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana.
According to an email written by Mountview Middle School Principal C. Erik Githmark and sent to all Mountview parents before the end of the school day Friday, the students ate the gummy bears on their morning bus ride. Several of the parents shared the email with The Landmark.
One student had a reaction that caused him to be taken by ambulance to an emergency room, the email said, and the other student was taken to the hospital to be monitored. Both students were expected to recover fully, Githmark wrote.
Wachusett Regional School District officials met with Holden police and emergency medical services and concluded the situation involved only the two students who received medical treatment, Githmark’s email said.
WRSD Superintendent Darryll McCall said that with the availability of legalized marijuana products, including the candy-like edible products, this type of incident may become more common.
“The district and families have to deal with this,” he said, emphasizing that if marijuana products are in the home, they should not be stored someplace that is accessible to youngsters. Edibles present a real challenge for school authorities because they can look like ordinary candy, cookies or other food products, he said.
It was one of the reasons the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents was adamantly against legalizing marijuana, McCall said.
The problem is not one that happened overnight, but is developing as marijuana becomes more widely legally available, he said. McCall said he holds meetings each month with police and fire chiefs in the district.
“I don’t think anyone knew where this (legalization) was going to go,” he said. “One of the first legal dispensaries opened right down the road from us, and then we have this.”
A Leicester dispensary for medicinal marijuana called Cultivate, added recreational marijuana sales on Nov. 20. Cultivate’s online menu did not list marijuana-infused gummy bears. Attempts to speak with a representative by phone were not successful.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration website justthinktwice.gov, brownies are the most common edible marijuana product, but the drug can be infused into almost any food. It takes the body around 1-3 hours to feel the effects of marijuana from edibles because food is absorbed into the bloodstream through the liver. Because it takes longer for the effects to be felt, the user may end up consuming larger amounts of the drug, in the belief that they’re not getting a “high.” Drug potency may also vary significantly from one edible product to the next.
Overdose symptoms from eating marijuana are often more severe than overdose symptoms that come from smoking the drug. The negative effects include psychotic episodes, hallucinations, paranoia, panic attacks and impaired mobility, the DEA site said.
McCall said communication from Githmark to Mountview Middle School parents provided “excellent” information about the challenges of keeping students safe, as well as providing a good link to online information at healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/teen/substance-abuse-/Pages/Edible-Marijuana-Dangers.aspx.
“It’s our job, as well as parents’, to make sure kids know how potent that marijuana can be,” he said. McCall plans to address the subject in his next newsletter to parents.
Holden Police Chief David Armstrong did not comment directly on the Mountview incident. He did say that he believes the drug culture in general and access to drugs is changing. He sees these changes as a future topic of discussion among the Police Department, school district and town officials.