DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County mother rushed her teenage daughter to a hospital emergency room Tuesday after the 15-year-old freshman student overdosed on a suspected marijuana-infused treat at Lithonia High School.
“She couldn’t breathe. Her heart was racing and her arms, she said she couldn’t feel her arms, and we didn’t know what was going on,” Maria Jessie told Channel 2′s Tom Regan.
Jessie said her daughter, Jania, ate a treat that a boy had given to a friend. Soon after, she began feeling seriously ill.
“We got her to the emergency room, and they ran all the tests and they said she tested positive for marijuana, and she doesn’t consume marijuana at all,” Jessie said.
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The mother said her daughter had no idea that the treat, either a gummy or cookie, had THC mixed into it.
“She had a mental breakdown. She was crying. She couldn’t remember anything. She could barely remember her birthday,” Jessie said.
As marijuana and Delta-8 products become more widely available, cases of students overdosing on THC are soaring at metro Atlanta schools, including middle and elementary schools.
“It’s rampant, it’s easy to get, and the potency is 10 to 20 times more than what it has been in the past,” drug addiction treatment counselor Kim Castro said.
Castro said consuming powerful marijuana edibles can be particularly harmful to children.
“It can cause psychotic break, can cause a person to lose touch with reality. And especially for teenagers, it sets up their neural pathways so they are much more prone to major depression later in life,” Castro said.
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The principal of Lithonia High School, Dr. Mulanta Wilkins, addressed the matter in a letter to parents Tuesday afternoon saying in part:
“This morning, a student became ill after consuming an unknown substance referred to as an ‘edible’”. The student’s family was notified and they took the child to a local medical facility for observation and treatment. Thankfully, the family notified us that the student is doing better. DCSD Police are conducting a thorough investigation to determine the circumstance surrounding this incident and identify the source of the unknown substance. Today’s incident is a timely reminder for families to talk to their children about the importance of using good judgment before ingesting anything- especially if they do not know what it is or where it comes from.”
The teen’s mother agrees and wants disciplinary action taken against the student who handed out the edibles.
“I want this stuff to stop. It has to stop in these communities and in these schools. It has to stop,” Jessie said.
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