Health officials are warning parents to be on the lookout for drug-laced candies as back to school season begins.
Last week, Johns Creek Police seized 20 pounds of marijuana laced candies from a residence.
Dr. Gaylord Lopez with Georgia Poison Center spoke on the Afternoon News Wrap this week, explaining the potential dangers.
"It's all about how much you take and the individual person," Lopez said. "The problem with eating the stuff is that the effects are stronger, they last longer, but they don't start for a couple of hours... so if you're eating marijuana and you eat too much of it you're not going to get sick or suffer the effects immediately. You just don't know when to stop."
Lopez said the Poison Center has had close to 100 calls over the past three years from concerned parents.
"We try to give them everything from the effects to how you can spot if your kid may have one of these drug laced products," he said. "They all look the same -whether it's a real gummy bear or a drug-laced gummy bear - so don't just rely on sight alone. The biggest giveaway... is they do have that characteristic smell."
Lopez said another thing to keep an eye on is hand sanitizer.
"People are taking back packs and putting that one bottle of 90% alcohol hand sanitizer and kids are unfortunately getting high off this stuff... we had this one child, I think it was a 9 year old, show up at the emergency room. Wobbly, disoriented, no one knew what had happened to that kid. They did a blood-alcohol test and it was .241," Lopez said, which is three times a normal BAC.
"It's relatively harmless, you would think, but it has hidden dangers and hidden poisons."
The Georgia Poison Center can be contacted 24 hours a day online and by phone at 1-800-222-1222.
Tuesday
May 7th, 2024
3:54PM
