01 November 2023 , 11:23
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A child was given a THC-infused candy at a California elementary school Halloween event - and fell ill afterwards.
Three more families found marijuana-laced treats in their child’s bucket of candy after the event at the Amelia Earhart Elementary school on Sunday afternoon. There were no reports of any other children ingesting one of the THC candies.
The unidentified child ate a Kiva Lost Farm fruit chew, which looks similar to a Starburst but contains 10mg of THC, a picture of the wrapper shared by police shows. It is being investigated by Alameda Police who warned everyone to exercise “extra caution”, as THC sweets can often resemble normal candies.
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They recommend that all parents “check your child’s candy” for “unusual packaging” - and urge parents to report any suspicious-looking sweets that were handed out on Halloween. On Facebook, the police department shared pictures of the popular brands that look extremely similar to THC candies.
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The wrapper shows it is in fact a cannabis sweet (Alameda Police Department)Nerds Ropes that say they are “medicated” and KitKat wrappers with a marijuana leaf should be avoided, as should sweets with slight name changes, such as Stoney Patch instead of Sour Patch Kids and Reefers instead of Reece’s. In some cases, the packaging can be very hard to distinguish from the real thing.
The THC version of Jolly Ranchers Gummies has the same name, font, and graphics as the original - you need to check the small corner which usually shows the calorie count per serving to see if it is a marijuana candy. Alameda Police Department said: “Exercise extra caution and inspect your child’s Halloween candy.”
Amelia Earhart Elementary School is working with police to “determine the source of this candy”, after they notified parents of the schoolchildren on Monday afternoon. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Principal Bryan Dunn-Ruiz sent a letter to all parents to explain what happened and the next steps.
The sweet was given out at a school's Halloween event (FOX)Alameda Unified School District officials told families to throw out any candy received at the event for safety, said spokesperson Susan Davies. She added: “It’s very worrisome. We’re trying to do everything we can to keep the kids safe while we investigate what happened.”
In another horrific twist to Halloween, a man has been accused of pointing a gun at a six-year-old boy because he left a Halloween candy bag on a stranger’s porch. The young kid was allegedly leaving a goodie bag for their friend when they accidentally went to the address of Michael Yifan Wen, 43, in Manhasset.
Wen was arrested and charged with menacing and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.