With the inception of legal marijuana throughout the majority of the United States (at least on a medicinal scale), cannabis products have become increasingly easy to acquire. So much so, that it’s beginning to fall into the wrong hands. And in this bizarre case, wrong equates to underage, with a Florida middle schooler arrested for bringing weed-infused Cheetos to school.
Not Your Grandfather’s Cheetos
The incident, which occurred Wednesday at a Broward County middle school, resulted in three students falling ill, one of whom ended up hospitalized.
According to WSVN.com, the snack food was labeled ‘Weetos,’ and closely resembled the classic crunchy Cheetos. Of course, there was one difference—the Weetos were strongly laced with THC.
Despite it’s close resemblance to the cheese-flavored snack food, two of the three students were, in fact, aware that they were laced with THC.
The 15-year old girl that was accused of bringing the snack food to Driftwood Middle School has since been arrested and charged with possession of THC. She was later released to her parents but faces a 10-day suspension, as well as the possibility of expulsion.
While such an incident isn’t a frequent occurrence, this is far from the first time such a mishap has happened on school grounds.
Back in November, in the French town of Mennecy, a teacher was unknowingly dosed by a piece of space cake after a student’s ill-conceived prank. The student was suspended for just eight days because of the matter, but there were plenty of unhappy parents and faculty members following the ordeal.
Then, back in January, a fight grader accidentally handed out weed-infused gummies to her classmates, resulting in a call to 911 and an ensuing visit by the paramedics. While that incident was an earnest mistake, it was still somewhat traumatizing for the children involved.
And most recently, a woman was arrested after her toddler was accidentally fed THC-infused Mac and Cheese. While this didn’t technically occur in a school facility, the theme of the story is concurrent with the others, nonetheless.
Cannabis and Kids
This latest issue is just another example of an issue that plagues the legal marijuana industry— most commercial cannabis products are designed to closely resemble,e and to a lesser degree, taste, like normal food.
While in this case, the girl suspected of supplying the Cheetos was, in fact, aware that it was laced, one of the victims was not. And clearly, she couldn’t tell until it was too late.
Although edibles certainly provide a fun alternative for veteran smokers, often times they can lead to mishaps by inexperienced or unaware consumers. California has even outlawed the sales of gummy bear-shaped edibles, just to preemptively avoid additional fiascos like this one.
We certainly have no problems with edibles, but perhaps a similar approach by other companies moving forward could lead to fewer instances like this in the future.
