Framingham Middle Schoolers Sickened After Eating Apparent Marijuana-Laced Candies

FRAMINGHAM, MA — A Framingham Public School has distributed a message warning parents about teaching children food safety, after two middle schoolers were sickened, reportedly by eating marijuana-laced candies.

Framingham mom Stacy Velasquez has told the tale to multiple local TV stations: Her 12-year-old was riding the bus to Fuller Middle School when he found a container of gummy bears. He later called her crying, and arrived at school in what Velasquez has called a "trance-like state," barely capable of speech.

He was taken to the emergency room, suffering after ingesting what is believed to have been marijuana in the candy. He, along with another student sickened, are now doing fine, according to the school's principal.

The source of their illness is now under investigation by police, the Framingham Public Schools superintendent told WHDH.

Marijuana is now legal for recreational use in Massachusetts, but it remains illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to possess or use it. It is also illegal to give the drug to anyone under 21. Until mid-2018, it is illegal to sell marijuana or marijuana-laced products in the Commonwealth.

Weed was legalized for recreational use in a statewide ballot vote last November. One of the key concerns from law enforcement opponents of the question was worry over children mistakenly eating marijuana "edibles" such as brownies and candies, which can be indistinguishable from the real thing.

In his email to parents, shared with Patch, Fuller Principal Jose Duarte wrote:

To the Fuller Community,

Yesterday, two of our students became sick as a result of consuming a food item that was found outside of the school premises. Fortunately, both are in good condition now and returned to school today.

However, this incident serves as a reminder for all adults to inform children that if they find something which appears to be edible, it can be potentially dangerous to eat something when one does not know where the food came from. There are multiple ways in which people can become sick from eating unknown foods, whether found on the street, a class, on a bus, or offered by a stranger.

We hope you will take the time to talk with your children. What may seem extremely obvious to adults is not necessarily well understood by children still developing their common sense.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Photo by Rene Schwietzke, Flickr/Creative Commons

This story has been updated to include the full letter to parents, and has been edited to reflect those updates.