Four third-grade students at North Broadway Elementary School in Escondido got sick Wednesday after eating edibles, or food laced with THC.
Most edibles are candies, treats or baked sweets. They're not safe for kids.
“Concerned and alarmed. Really worried about the kids,“ Escondido Union School District parent Touba Warsi said after learning the news.
Warsi’s daughter is in kindergarten. She never thought to warn her about edibles.
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“You can’t just tell them, 'Don’t take food from your siblings or your schoolmates,' so we haven’t talked about it yet. I have reached out for resources,“ Warsi said.
We know the sick third graders were taken to the hospital for evaluation, but the school district didn't say anything more about their condition.
“The wide accessibility and commercialization of “edibles” – food products infused with THC – is cause for concern in school communities across the state, including our own," read part of a statement issued by the district Wednesday.
Since cannabis was legalized in 2015, the number of children needing treatment at Rady Children’s Hospital after ingesting it has increased from a handful to hundreds each year. The average age of those patients is 3-and-a-half years old, according to the hospital. The effects of cannabis overconsumption on children can be life-threatening.
“It makes them start to vomit, it makes them lose consciousness. They can even stop breathing, their heart can stop,“ Rady pediatrician Dr. Natalie Laub said.
Dr. Laub specializes in these cases in the emergency department.
Her research is almost exclusively on cannabis and its effect on young children.
“You take your average dose of an edible cannabis which might be somewhere between 5 and 10 to 20 milligrams for an adult — that dose can make a child critically ill,“ Dr. Laub said.
Coincidently, just last Sunday, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 1207, known as the Cannabis Candy Child Safety Act. It was co-authored by Dr. Laub and based on her research.
The bill was intended to force producers of edibles to change their packaging so they aren't as attractive to kids. Laub was trying to stop items like "Double Stuffed Stoneyos" and "Rice Krispyz" from hitting the shelves.
“It looks like candy. It looks like cookies. It looks like snacks. Kids are getting into it at an accelerated rate. I think it will actually, unfortunately, become more common, “ Dr. Laub said.
For now, Laub and youth safety groups and school districts like Escondido Union are urging parents to keep the poison control hotline close, and their eyes closer.
Dr. Laub said the hospital has dealt with cases where edibles were mistakenly given to kids on Halloween. Parents are encouraged to check their children’s goody bags after trick or treating. If you have cannabis in your home, Laub recommends locking it away as you would with other dangerous drugs.
