Cannabis product looked like cereal
Homewood children safe after eating at school
An incident at a Homewood middle school this week has prompted conversations about drug use and sparked debate about whether some cannabis products are marketed to children.
Several eighth graders at James Hart Middle School consumed cannabis edibles Monday that resembled Cap’n Crunch cereal, Homewood Elementary District 153 said. The product looked like the cereal made by Quaker Oats and was contained in packaging that bore the Cap’n Crunch brand name and mascot.
“A student reported feeling ill to the school nurse,” the district said. “It was reported by the student that they had received the look-alike cereal from another student and that multiple students had also eaten the looka-like item.”
School officials investigated and contacted Homewood police. Some parents sought medical attention for their children.
“All of the students identified through the investigation as having consumed the item have recovered and are feeling better,” the district said Thursday.
In a letter Monday to parents, Principal Kimberly L. Johnson encouraged parents to talk with children about the dangers of eating items from unknown sources.
“There is also a danger with look-alike products, because the packaging can resemble popular brand name cereal, candy and snacks,” Johnson wrote. “The packaging may be nearly identical with a slight name change or an extra picture on the package and THC may be listed as an ingredient.”
The district did not share details about how many children were affected, who brought the product to school or how it was acquired. Homewood police did not immediately respond Thursday to a message requesting information about the status of an investigation.
District 153 shared an image that showed, in addition to the Cap’n Crunch branding, the look-alike product packaging contained silhouette images of cannabis plant leaves, a box with “500 mg THC” written in it and a triangle showing a cannabis plant leaf, an exclamation point and the letters CA.
CA is the postal code for California, where state law requires use of the symbol on packaging for cannabis-infused products. THC is the abbreviation for tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in cannabis.
Someone shared Johnson’s letter in a social media group for the Homewood-Flossmoor area, prompting a range of reactions.
“I’m hoping that it will be used as a teaching moment in school and out of school,” a parent wrote.
Some speculated that 13-year
olds who consumed relatively small amounts of cannabis-infused products probably were not too impaired. Reaction from some community members could be summarized as, “it was no big deal.”
“Back in (my) day kids smoked their parents cigarettes, drank off their alcohol,” someone wrote.
Kids will be kids, some seemed to say. Teens will likely experiment with drugs at some point. All should agree, though, that no middle school students should use cannabis at school.
Some in the conversation speculated about whether children knowingly consumed the product. Perhaps they did not notice the subdued cannabis messaging on the package and believed they were eating actual Cap’n Crunch cereal.
This should be a serious concern for all, regardless of their views on cannabis legalization.
Congress ought to crack down on cannabis companies marketing look-alike products the same way legislators went after tobacco companies that created characters like Joe Camel to make kids want to smoke cigarettes.
Major corporations like the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, Mars Inc. and others have filed a lawsuit accusing cannabis companies of making and marketing products that look like popular candy brands, according to The New York Times.
“Though the suit focuses on intellectual property rights, the plaintiffs also argue that the copycat products could lead people, particularly children, to mistakenly ingest drugs,” the Times reported.
The Homewood incident could be the tip of a proverbial iceberg, with serious health consequences if left unchecked. It doesn’t help that our national conversation about drug use is distorted by profit motives and misinformation.
Children need to know the truth about cannabis. Official government policy that echoes “Reefer Madness” propaganda of the 1950s doesn’t help anyone. Authorities do a disservice if they only tell kids that marijuana is a gateway drug that will always lead to use of more serious drugs.
As of February, medical use of cannabis was legal in 37 states and 18 states had legalized recreational use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Millions of Americans have consumed cannabis daily for decades and can attest that they experience health benefits from the drug. It is absurd that the federal government continues to classify cannabis as a Level 1 narcotic, as dangerous as heroin.
Children should not use cannabis, just as they should not use tobacco or alcohol. Parents should have honest conversations with their kids about cannabis, probably before they enter middle school.
If Illinois dispensaries are allowed to sell cannabis-infused products that misappropriate copyrighted images and are made to look like items commonly consumed by children, state lawmakers ought to immediately address that.