(NewsNation) — An investigation is underway after a New Mexico school district says an elementary student brought marijuana edibles to school and shared them with approximately 14 other students.
In a town about 30 minutes north of Albuquerque, Algodones school administrators learned Monday afternoon that a student brought THC-infused candies to the elementary school. It’s unclear how the student accessed the candies or if the student knew what ingredients they contained.
The Bernalillo Public School District said around 14 students are believed to have consumed the THC-infused candies. School officials did not immediately release the grades or ages of the students.
The school system said medical personnel evaluated all the classmates involved and reported they were all in stable condition. “Parents have been notified. We will continue to make sure that all students are safe and healthy,” the school district said in a news release.
The incident involving THC-infused candies that “mimicked a colorful sour gummy roll” comes days after New Mexico began allowing the sale of recreational cannabis for adults 21 and older, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports. The school district acknowledged the new legalization in their message to parents.
“Like any other school system in New Mexico, we will have to grapple with educating our families, children, and staff on what to look for and how to provide safe environments for our children under this new era of legalization,” the school district said in a release.
According to Children’s Hospital Colorado, marijuana ingested in an “edible” form can have a stronger impact, especially in children under the age of 12. They say smaller children are at a higher risk based on size and weight. The hospital states that in these instances kids often mistake marijuana edibles that sometimes look like gummy bears, brownies or lollipops for regular food and the consumption often requires hospital admission.
Published studies from around 2014 by children’s hospital researcher Dr. G. Sam Wang suggest that since 2005, states that allow some forms of legal marijuana noticed a 30 percent spike in calls to poison control centers for marijuana ingestion in comparison to a 1 percent increase in states where marijuana is not legal.
Children’s Hospital Colorado recommends storing edibles or regular marijuana in a secure place out of the reach of children.
