Over 60 students between ages 7-12 in an elementary school in Jamaica were taken to the hospital after they ate sweets laced with cannabis. Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams told CNN none of the children appear to be in critical condition.
“Over 60 primary school students had to be taken to hospital. Parents, please beware!!” Williams wrote on X. Reportedly, the candies were so potent that one boy had to be taken to the hospital though he ate just one sweet.
"The children began vomiting and hallucinating after eating the candies," Williams wrote on X. Some kids had to be put on an intravenous drip. She also said “doctors & nurses are doing all they can to ensure the students recover.”
The police are now seeking the public's assistance to locate the vendor, who sold the sweets to students of Ocho Rios Primary School. The candy package had a warning that stated, “keep out of reach of children” and “not intended for use by anyone under 21 years of age.” It also stated that the sweets contained Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as delta-8 THC, a psychoactive substance found in the Cannabis sativa plan, which has “psychoactive and intoxicating effects,” according to the US Food and Drug Administration.
The use of cannabis has been decriminalised in Jamaica for people over 18 in 2015. Possession of up to 56 grams of cannabis is considered a petty offence. The vendor packaged the sweets as Sour Belts.
