Two Oshawa students were hospitalized on Wednesday after becoming ill from eating cannabis-laced cookies at their high school.
According to Durham Regional Police, one of the senior school students took the homemade cookies from a parent, who has a legal medical cannabis licence, without his consent.
The student snuck the baked goods into Hillsdale Public School and shared them with a friend.
“After consuming the cookies, the student who brought the cookies and a friend exhibited signs of consumption and impairment,” the Durham District School Board (DDSB) said in a statement.
“They were taken to hospital where they were monitored for elevated heart rates.”
The students stayed at the hospital overnight for “observation,” according to police.
“The father has been very cooperative with us. He was not aware that this had happened. He had this stored away in a safe place at home, but obviously it was not safe enough,” said Dave Selby of Durham Regional Police Service.
“There is no criminality here. It’s more about public education,” he added.
The Children’s Aid Society has been contacted as part of the investigation and will be conducting a review.
The board would not say whether the students will face any disciplinary action.
“Drug use by students is a serious matter and is dealt with as such through progressive discipline and police intervention as necessary,” the board’s statement read.
This isn’t the first time police in Durham Region have had to issue the warning.
Back in May, on two separate occasions, police responded to incidents involving marijuana snacks at elementary schools in the city.
In the first case, four kids in Grade 7 and 8 fell ill after eating THC-infused gummy bears.
In the second case, a Grade 6 student reportedly brought home-baked cookies to school and shared them with four other students. A subsequent investigation found that the treats were made by a parent with a medical marijuana licence and had been taken without consent by an older sibling and “somehow ended up” in the backpack of the Grade 6 student.
“Officers have also taken the time to educate students, parents, caregivers and teachers about the dangers and risks of consuming psychoactive chemicals at such an early age,” police wrote in a release on Thursday.
Recreational cannabis became legal in Canada on Oct. 17.
However, the DDSB said the recent legislation has “not had a significant impact on how schools are dealing with incidents involving cannabis.”
