ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) – Another case of drug-laced candy has a handful of Tampa Bay area students in trouble. Two students were expelled and another seven were suspended from Northside Christian School in St. Petersburg.
The incident didn’t happen at school. Rather, it occurred on the way to a big spring break baseball game in South Carolina in late March.
The two students who are now expelled distributed the candy with a kick to the other seven kids. None of the students were hospitalized. No administrators, faculty or staff members saw the candy, officials say. Therefore, no criminal charges were filed.
“I was shocked,” Tammy Madasz of Northside Christian said. “I was absolutely shocked, especially with the boys involved. I never thought they would have done this.”
“I think in their minds they justify it as they don’t think they’re doing drugs,” Madasz added.
Just last week students got sick after taking THC gummies at Boca Ciega High School in Gulfport. In that case, students were arrested.
Doctors says it’s hard to identify drug-laced candy
Dr. Joseph Perno of All Children’s Hospital said it’s hard for parents to tell if their children have had this candy.
“It would be very, very challenging,” Dr. Perno said. “There’s just no way to know if they’ve been infused with THC or marijuana.”
Perno advised parents to talk with their children. Then, if you suspect something, look for bloodshot eyes, signs of confusion and disorientation.
If kids eat too many, they could become high very quickly and need to go to the hospital, as happened with the Boca Ciego students.
“They eat one, nothing,” Perno said. “Well, I’m going to eat another one, another one and now they’ve eaten too much and then it all kicks in once it gets through the digestive tract and hits their system and now they’re getting closer to marijuana intoxication-type symptoms.”
That scenario didn’t happen in this latest case involving Northside Christian, but doctors say it’s only a matter of time before it happens again.
Interestingly enough, Northside Christian is a school where local law enforcement officers train drug dogs. They bring the dogs there unannounced to sniff kids’ cars and lockers.
School officials emphasize this did not happen on school property and say it is an isolated incident.WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON RIGHT NOW:
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