Elementary school students ate cannabis edibles, thought they were candy

The students at Highland Elementary School are 8 and 9 years old, St. Louis County Police said. They ate THC-infused Nerds Rope Bites and Mad Monkey Sour Strawberry Premium Gummies, and the remaining pieces were taken for evidence, according to the police.

The third-grade student who shared the edibles told the police he thought they were candy.

The story was first reported by KTVI (Channel 2).

The students involved were picked up by their parents and, according to a police statement, none reported any effects from the incident. However Nicole Howard, the mother of a 9-year-old girl who ate two of the edibles, told KTVI that the girl was confused, had trouble walking and thought she was being kidnapped when her mother came to get her.

The Riverview Gardens School District sent a letter to parents of all Highland Elementary School describing the incident and saying that the school nurse examined the students who had eaten the edibles before sending them home.

The letter also reminds parents to store any adult snacks or candies away from children, and states that students who bring controlled substances to school may face severe disciplinary action.

The incident is part of a national trend. The number of children who eat edible cannabis products has exploded in recent years as more states, including Missouri and Illinois, have made such products legal.

According to a 2023 article in Pediatrics, a journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the number of children under 6 years old who ingested cannabis edibles jumped from 207 cases in 2017 to 3,054 in 2021.

More than 22% of these children were admitted to a hospital, with most showing a minor to moderate effect from the drug.

Recreational marijuana is now legal in 24 states, including Missouri and Illinois, plus Washington D.C., Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Some form of marijuana, including recreational, medical, low-THC or CBD, is legal in 47 states.