A dozen students at William Floyd Middle School in Moriches were sickened and 11 were taken to hospitals after they ingested marijuana edible gummies handed out by another student on Monday, Suffolk police and school district officials said.
District spokesman James Montalto, in a statement, said: “This morning, a student at William Floyd Middle School handed out edible THC gummies to approximately 12 students, who have since fallen ill. The Suffolk County Police Department and local EMTs responded en masse to provide care and assistance, along with our school nurse, to students.”
The students, all between 13 and 14 years old, fell ill at about 10 a.m. Monday, police said. Eleven of the students were hospitalized, Montalto added.
Police said no criminal charges will be filed and discipline will be handled by the school. A police spokesperson declined to say where the student obtained the gummies.
Jaylee Pereira picked up her son, a seventh grader at William Floyd, early around 12:50 p.m., after she learned of a commotion at the building. She said neither her son nor his friends were involved in the incident, but she was concerned for the sickened students.
“That’s terrible,” said Pereira, 40, of Mastic, before driving away with her son in the back seat Monday afternoon. “I can’t believe this is going on in the school.”
Pursuing charges for minors ingesting edibles may be difficult, said Jillian Snider, an adjunct lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan.
She said police and school officials should find out the source of the gummies and whether they were sold illegally.
“You can’t charge a 13-year-old with a violation. Very seldom would a prosecutor go after junior high students,” Snider said. “I don’t really see a prosecutor going after parents for gummies. There has to be some sort of intervention by school officials.”
New York legalized the sale of recreational and edible cannabis products and began sales of gummies and other edibles at state licensed facilities at the end of 2022.
Police agencies and the state’s Office of Cannabis Management have been working to stop illegal sales of marijuana products marketed to children, with packaging showing cartoon characters or otherwise similar to candies and sweets.
The state prohibits marijuana sales to anyone under the age of 21 and limits THC content to 10 mg, although unlicensed products may have a higher potency, experts said.
The effects of the gummies and similar products also can be delayed and unpredictable.
Symptoms can include “intoxication, anxiety, panic, paranoia, dizziness, weakness, slurred speech, poor coordination and heart problems,” the American Academy of Pediatrics reported.
It was rare for Stony Brook Children’s Hospital to see any such cases before 2020, but the hospital treated about a dozen children in 2021 and slightly more in 2022, said Dr. Candice Foy, a pediatric hospitalist at Stony Brook.
In 2023, state law changed to require child-resistant packaging for such products, and fewer children have been hospitalized since then. Teens rarely experience severe side effects, Foy said.
“Usually the younger kids are the ones who are more impacted,” Foy said, in part because they might eat a large quantity of edibles, not realizing they are not ordinary candies or cookies, she said.
More than 3,000 cases of children under 6 consuming marijuana products were reported to the National Poison Data System in 2021, up from about 200 cases in 2017, research published in the journal Pediatrics in 2023 show s.
Packaging for state-regulated gummies contains a warning: “Keep out of reach of children and pets. For use only by persons 21 and older.” The packaging also includes a number for the National Poison Control Center.
Chad Vassallo, 47, of Center Moriches, stopped at the middle school Monday as it was surrounded by news crews. He said his 16-year-old son attends Center Moriches High School and he said he worries “every day” about the different forms of marijuana that could make their way into schools. He said teens think that because the substance is legal, there are no consequences to taking it.
“It’s unfortunate these days,” Vassallo said. “They’re allowing it everywhere and some of the kids don’t even know what they’re taking. People are making them at home, buying them from the store, places that aren’t regulated. It’s very scary with my children being in high school as well.”
Felicia Moore said her 13-year-old daughter texted her Monday morning that they were in lockdown.
“It’s a little concerning because you don’t know where they got it from or what’s mixed in there,” Moore said.
Some of the students were transported to a hospital for treatment. Read More
