Officials: Kids' snacks in class may hide drugs

Sandtown Middle, South Atlanta High incidents show risks.

Parents, pay attention to your kids’ lollipops and brownies.

The tasty treats might be masquerading as something more dangerous.

That’s the message officials are spreading after drug- laced treats eaten on Valen- tine’s Day sickened Fulton County middle-schoolers.

Sandtown Middle School sent 28 students to local hos- pitals on Feb. 14 after some students ate cereal treats containing THC, a chemical found in marijuana. The chil- dren complained of symp- toms ranging from stomach and head pain to disorientation and hallucinations.

The incident sparked investigations, and the school district announced a handful of students face school disciplinary consequences.

The school system also pledged to launch a districtwide awareness campaign about the dangers of edibles, food or candy containing drugs, and to remind students to avoid food from unknown sources.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautions that there are health risks linked to marijuana use regardless of the form it comes in. Unlike smoking pot, THC-laced food takes longer to produce an effect because of the time it takes to digest.

“Therefore, people may consume more to feel the effects faster. This may lead to people consuming very high doses and result in nega- tive effects like anxiety, para- noia and, in rare cases, an extreme psychotic reaction,” the CDC states.

Examples of those “extreme” reactions include delusions and hallucinations.

The Fulton school district shared a tip sheet for par- ents about pot-based edibles, saying that lollipops, chocolate bars and brownies are the most common.

At Sandtown, school police retrieved suspicious Rice Krispies-style treats. The GBI, which tested dozens of food products collected at the school, described the item that contained THC as having “the appearance of cereal.”

Warning signs that a child may have eaten something with THC in it include excessive sleepiness, dizziness, trouble walki n g, panic attacks, rapid heart rate and trouble breathing.

Fulton school officials have said the problem isn’t just at Sandtown. They pointed to the growing popularity across the nation of druglaced treats or food.

In November, two students and an adult at South Atlanta High School became ill after eating brownies shared by a teacher. Atlanta school police said they couldn’t determine if the treats contained pot because all the brownie evidence had been eaten. The teacher resigned soon after, citing “medical concerns.”

“Students sometimes don’t make good decisions,” said Shannon Flounnory, executive director of the Fulton district’s safety and security division, at a recent news conference. “I can assure you (this) is not the first time this has happened in a school district, and I can pretty much tell you it’s not going to be the last time.”

The school district advised parents to instruct younger children to eat snacks only from known sources. Parents should talk to older children about the dangers of eating drug-laced food, which can have higher concentrations of THC, and make sure kids don’t have access to such edibles.

Parents who think their child may have eaten drug- tainted food should seek medical help immediately.