Officials said that several students attending Naperville North High School in Illinois got ill on Tuesday, Dec. 6 after eating gummy bears that were laced with a still unknown substance.
Naperville District 203 Superintendent Dan Bridges said that they called the police and the fire departments to come to the school after more than a dozen students reported feeling sick on Tuesday morning.
Dizziness, Fast Heart Rate And Other Symptoms After Eating Gummy Bears
Officials of the school said that after ingesting the gummies, the students felt uncomfortable and experienced dizziness, dry mouth and fast heart rate, prompting the school to send them to Edward Hospital.
"For safety precautions, they were transported to Edward to receive medical attention. Each student had varying degrees of discomfort and subsequent treatment was needed," Bridges said.
Eleven students were still at the hospital on Tuesday afternoon but they were already in a stable condition. Two were already released from the hospital.
Gummy Bear Laced With Still Unknown Substance
Jennifer McNulty, the medical director for the Pediatric Emergency Department and Pediatrics at Edward Hospital, said on Wednesday, Dec. 7 that based on her observations and conversations with the students and given her medical expertise and other factors, she believed that the gummy bears were produced or laced with marijuana or marijuana oil and not alcohol or other foreign substances.
She noted that in recent years, local residents had to deal with the increasing use of heroin and other narcotics.
The police think that the students ingested the candies voluntarily but they are not sure if they were aware of about the presence of the substance in the gummy bears. The students also said that the gummy bears were eaten between periods.
How To Tell If Candies Are Laced With Drugs
Ingesting drug-laced candies can be dangerous, particularly if they get eaten by very young kids. Unfortunately, it is not easy to spot gummy bears or candies tainted with foreign substances. It may help though to check the packaging of candies and other edible items. Make sure that the packaging of the candies has not been opened or tampered with before eating them.
The candy's packaging may also indicate it contains marijuana. In October earlier this year, when kids went around the neighborhood asking for candies and treats, a parent became suspicious after finding a candy bar that had pictures of cannabis leaves on the wrapper. The candy bar eventually tested positive for marijuana.
