Beware of where you put your edibles. That's the message that resonated loud and clear after at least 14 elementary school students from Algodones, New Mexico, were hospitalized recently for eating THC-infused candies. All were age 10 or under, according to KOB 4.
The sale of recreational marijuana became legal in the state on Friday, April 1. Three days later, the young students reported feeling sick after all of them ate similar candies that a classmate had shared.
"I'm not surprised by a lot of things anymore because there's so much accessibility to so much, but in this case, I'm a little bit dumbfounded by how quickly it came about," Bernalillo Public Schools superintendent Matt Montaño told KOB 4. "Not to be unexpected that this could happen, but to happen so quickly after the law went into effect on Friday was a bit surprising for me. I feel like I'm a little on my heels on it and I'm disappointed not to be able to be a little more proactive about this."
The New Mexico Poison Center warned about cannabis products that look like candy prior to legalization being approved and signed by the governor, KOBV 4 reported.
"Edibles are edible and they're attractive," Steven Seifert, medical director of the New Mexico Poison Center, told KOB 4. "They're going to attract children as well as adults to consuming them."
Seifert cautioned that this situation could have been much worse if a stronger drug was involved.
"Cannabis is not a very dangerous drug, in general,” he said. “And it does not have the same kind of health threats that many substances that are out in the community have."
Marijuana does present specific risks to children.
"These products are dosed for adults, so you take a child who gets an adult dose of cannabis and they're getting a much larger amount of drug for their body weight," Seifert said. "Their airways are smaller, softer, more easily compromised, and then perhaps more susceptible to the central nervous system depression effects of cannabis."
