District: 1 student hospitalized after eating THC gummies at Colerain Middle School
By Emily Sanderson
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CINCINNATI, Ohio (WLWT) — One student was taken to the hospital after eating a THC gummy at Colerain Middle School Wednesday.
It all started around 11:59 a.m. when an emergency call came in about a student with an elevated heart rate on the playground.
School officials said they later found out the student had eaten an unknown amount of THC gummies.
Additional medic units were called in after school officials said more students came into the nurse’s office saying that they had also eaten the THC gummies.
All students were treated by EMS and were released to their parents. One student was taken to Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center, where they were treated and released.
The Colerain Township Police Department is still investigating how the juveniles were able to get the THC gummies and whether they knew they had THC in them when they ate them.
Students involved have been disciplined based on the school’s code of conduct policy, officials said.
WLWT checked in with doctors to learn more about the dangers of drug use among young people.
While these edibles may look like candy or a cookie, marijuana edibles are potent and can have dangerous effects on young bodies and brains.
“The edible form of marijuana intoxication is probably the most common because they look exactly like regular candy cookies, chocolate brownies,” said Dr. Kathryn O’Malley, with Muddy Creek Pediatrics.
in 2020, there were 380 calls to Ohio’s two poison control centers, with 157 related to marijuana edibles, like gummies, cookies and brownies.
Dr. David Baum works with ASAP, a program that specializes in helping teens with substance use issues.
He says when kids start using marijuana at young ages, the negative impacts can last a lifetime.
“When it comes to kids, there’s really well-documented evidence for, you know, issues with like long-term achievement, life satisfaction, comorbid mental illness. It increases the risk of psychotic mental health disorders later in life,” Baum said.
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