ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A fifth-grader at an Albuquerque, New Mexico, school unwittingly passed out what was reported to be her parents’ medical marijuana candies to the class in an early January incident, much to the dismay of administrators, according to KRQE-TV.
KRQE reported Wednesday that after the student shared the candies with several of her classmates at The Albuquerque School of Excellence, some of the children who consumed them began showing signs of being under the influence of marijuana.
One student told KRQE, “[The student] had this box, it had a label on it that said ‘Incredibles.’ We just thought it was ordinary gummies.”
“I started feeling really dizzy,” the child added. “I felt like the room was going to flip to the side.”
KRQE reported that the child was upset she’d inadvertently ingested the drugs, regretfully saying, “All those lessons I took about not taking drugs were all for nothing.”
Kristy Del Curto, the dean of elementary students, said that the child who passed out the candy exhibited symptoms of her own, and told administrators that she couldn’t see. The student who brought in the candies reportedly ate as many as four.
Del Curto indicated to the Albuquerque Journal that the box from which the candies were dispensed could have fooled anyone.
“She thought she was sharing candy, and if you saw the picture on the box, it did look like candy,” Del Curto said.
Del Curto said that the child who brought in the candies fell ill in class, and went to the nurse’s station as a result.
“She told the nurse that she was feeling sick and was very dizzy and that she thought she had food poisoning from something she ate in the cafeteria,” Del Curto said. “The nurse asked her what else she had eaten and she said gummies. We asked to see the box, which had been tossed in the trash after it was empty.”
Del Curto said that the box was unearthed from the garbage, and upon seeing it, said, “‘Nope, that is not candy.’”
She explained that a loudspeaker announcement requested that those children who ate the gummies come to the office for examination.
Five children showed up, according to Del Curto — some exhibiting zero symptoms while others were visibly “giggly.”
According to KRQE, Del Curto called 911, and responding paramedics monitored the children for any dangerous reactions.
The Albuquerque Journal reported that the school called the children’s parents, and also contacted the Albuquerque Police Department as well as the Children, Youth, and Families Department.
While KRQE reported that the edibles belonged to the student’s parents, the Albuquerque Journal reported that the gummies belonged to the student’s grandfather, and that the student had eaten five gummies, and not as many as four, as reported by KRQE.
The school’s Facebook page on Thursday addressed the incident in a post.
“As we informed our parents via email for the incident happened last week, we would like to remind all students and parents to be cautious about food/drink sharing,” the post read. “Thanks to Channel 13 News for airing this incident to reach out more students and parents. Now, other local channels and newspaper are interested in this story to reach out more people.”
The update added, “‘A picture is worth thousand words’ and we would like our community to be alert with drugs and any edibles that may or could be in different formats. We kindly ask our parents and community members not to talk explicitly about drugs/medicine when students are present (unintentionally to tempt or encourage students to use drugs).”