Kids: If The Package Says "Edibles," Don't Eat What's Inside

It's kind of surprising this doesn't happen more often, as most marijuana-laced "edibles" resemble nothing as much as actual candy, like gummy bears and lollipops. Still, this story out of New Mexico is rather horrifying, as a fifth-grader found an edibles box and took it to school to share with her class, thinking it was candy. The Albuquerque Journal recounts that the gummies caused some of them of her classmates "to get sick and some to get 'giggly'—and not because they were loaded with sugar."

While food poisoning was suspected at first, the discovery of the empty edibles box in the trash confirmed the worst. Kristi Del Curto, dean of elementary students, said, "as soon as we looked at it, we said, 'nope, that is not candy.'"

Turns out the gummies contained medicinal marijuana used by the girl's grandfather. The parents of the affected children were all immediately contacted, and the impaired kids were checked out by paramedics. Fortunately, the Journal reports, "All are now back in school and none had any lasting ill effects."

This seems like a news story we may see more in increasing amounts, as more states legalize pot (right now medicinal marijuana is allowed in 29 states, plus the District Of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico) and gummies become more prevalent. This makes it all the more crucial for homes with children in them to keep those THC-laced candies and brownies far away from the kids. The school soon released a statement on its Facebook page:

Del Curto noted, "We reminded [parents] that this is why we have a policy of no food or drink from homes," although that policy is usually related to nut allergies, not pot products.