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Protecting our children from pot-laced candy, snacks

Parents need to be on guard for THC-infused treats, alcoholic lookalikes

Posted 8/22/24

CLAY COUNTY — To a 10-year-old, it looks like a treat. A gummy. A piece of chocolate. A rice crispy cake. A cookie. A brownie. A link of licorice rope. A bag of popcorn. A cup of ice cream. …

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Protecting our children from pot-laced candy, snacks

Parents need to be on guard for THC-infused treats, alcoholic lookalikes


Posted

CLAY COUNTY — To a 10-year-old, it looks like a treat. A gummy. A piece of chocolate. A rice crispy cake. A cookie. A brownie. A link of licorice rope. A bag of popcorn. A cup of ice cream.

Why not have a bite? Why not share? Maybe a can of orange juice or a soft drink? It’s on the counter or the refrigerator shelf, so it must be all right.

What seems so innocent can be dangerous, and those concerns are amplified as THC-infused products become more available and packaged to resemble popular children’s snacks.

THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is the psychoactive component in "pot-laced" candy and snacks. It comes typically in two forms: Delta-9 and Delta-8. While Delta-8 products are milder, they still also lead to temporary cognitive effects if ingested. 

“A study that came out last year said 11% of high school seniors have now used this stuff because you could go buy it in a gas station, a smoke shop, some convenience stores carry these,” said Mike McCormick, Media Relations and Education Coordinator for Florida/U.S. Virgin Island Poison Information Center. “They are in gummies and candy bars and drinks and vapes. The problem is they look so much like regular candy. When these things end up in the home, if they fall into children’s hands, we run into a problem.”

It happens more often than you think.

Last year, four 8-year-old second-grade students overdosed and were taken to the hospital in Putnam County after one of them found a container of THC gummies and brought them to school.

Four sixth-grade students also ate THC gummies at the same school earlier in the year. The school called the county’s fire rescue department after a 12-year-old girl passed out.

Seventeen months ago, a 15-year-old girl was rushed to the hospital from Ridgeview High after eating a brownie infused with THC.

A student in Duval County got sick after eating a “Lucky Charms snack bar” last year that likely contained THC, the student’s mother said.

McCormick warned it’s nearly impossible to distinguish legitimate candy and snacks from THC-infused edibles. He had a display of three rice crispy treats at the Thrasher-Horne Center recently and challenged the Clay Today Active After 50 audience to identify which, if any, contained THC.

“Some parents will tell the kids, ‘These are mommy and daddy’s special gummies, and these are your gummies.’ Well, which one do you think the child wants to get, take the school, and share with his friends? The special ones,” McCormick said. “That’s how we end up with this stuff in schools. And the problem is there is no antidote for THC.”

Many alcohol and THC-infused products are packaged to mimic items popular with children. The Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission last year sent a cease-and-desist letter to six companies that marketed edibles containing Delta-8 THC that looked like candy and snack brands that children enjoy, like “Double Stuff Stoneo” cookies, “Stoney Patch” gummies, “CHEETOS Crunchy THC,” “Cheetos Puffs THC Chips” and “Medicated Jolly Rancher Gummies Sours.”

According to the FTC, “The major national brands whose foods have been imitated by the products cited in the cease-and-desist letters have absolutely nothing to do with the sale of the lookalikes.”

McCormick said many parents aren’t taking enough precautions to make sure their legally obtained THC and alcohol products are secured because some don’t consider them as dangerous as opioids or hard liquor. But for a child, a small amount of THC or alcohol can be dangerous because it can lead to intoxication, altered perception, anxiety, panic, paranoia, dizziness, weakness, slurred speech, poor coordination, excessive sleepiness, apnea and heart problems.

“There was a study a year or so ago; the number of calls for THC-related poisonings was up 1,375% for children,” McCormick said. “The problem is, it just looks so much like regular candy. So I hate to say this to parents because we all want to teach our kids that sharing is caring, but when it comes to stuff, if they’re going to ingest that’s medicine, that’s candy, that’s anything, they should not take it unless it comes from their mom or dad, grandmother or grandfather. OK?”

Another area of concern is the added prevalence of alcohol in popular drinks. Mountain Dew, for example, has a line of “Hard” drinks that contain 5% alcohol. Although the alcohol version is marked with the word “HARD” across the label, the colorful cans closely resemble their other lines of new products like Baja Blast, LiveWire, Voltage and Maui Burst. Mtn Dew’s Hard lines are called Baja Blast, Livewire and Original.

Dunkin has a line of four “Spiked” iced coffees and four “Spiked” teas, while SunnyD also has vodka-infused cans of its orange drink on the shelves.

“We really need them separated, where children can’t have access,” McCormick said. “When you bring it home, most people don’t have two refrigerators so it will end up in the same refrigerator. That’s what we worry about – your child will go in and grab one of them.”

McCormick is concerned about the unintentional consequences of Amendment 3 if it passes in November, which would allow for the legal recreational use of marijuana in Florida. He said the more readily products become available, the more likely they could end up in the wrong hands.

“It’s a crazy world we live in this day,” he said.