Police warn public after child eats cannabis cookie

The Windsor Police Service is reminding the public about cannabis safety after an incident in Amherstburg involving a child mistakenly being fed a cannabis cookie.

Officers of the department's Amherstburg detachment responded to a medical call at a residence on Thursday.

They were told that the child's adult caregiver had given the young child a piece of the cookie while unaware that it contained cannabis.

The caregiver also ate a piece of the cookie, and realized something was wrong by its taste.

This was followed by the child exhibiting behavioural changes that “caused concern,” police said.

The child received medical treatment and did not have any life-threatening reactions to the cookie.

“This is an unfortunate example of how easily and quickly a child or even an adult can unknowingly consume an edible cannabis product,” Windsor police stated.

Anyone who purchases cannabis products is urged to keep them away from children, and store them safely out of reach in child-resistant containers, with clear labelling or the original packaging.

Edible items infused with cannabis are legal for personal consumption by adults under the Cannabis Act. However, they can only be legally purchased at provincially licensed retail locations, or online via the Ontario Cannabis Store (ocs.ca).

The Ontario Cannabis Store offers an assortment of cannabis edibles including soft-chew gummies, chocolates, and baked goods.

A package of two Aurora Drift soft-baked chocolate cookies with 10 milligrams of THC content each currently retails for $14.20.

Product images show the cookies as indistinguishable from regular cookies.