5th-grader unknowingly passes out pot edibles to schoolmates

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- (KRQE) -- A fifth-grade student at Albuquerque School of Excellence mistook her parent's medicinal marijuana for candy and passed it out to other students at school.

“We just thought it was ordinary gummies,” said one of the students who ate the edibles.

The 9-year-old student said she almost immediately knew what she was given was not an ordinary gummy candy.

“I started feeling really dizzy. I felt like the room was going to flip to the side,” said the 9-year-old.

The Dean of Elementary Students, Kristy Del Curto, says the incident happened last Thursday before school started.

“We noticed the student who initially brought the edible to our school was acting strange. She started saying she couldn't see,” said Del Curto.

Del Curto says three students ate one gummy and the student who passed out the candy ate three or four pieces.

THC gummies can be two to 100 times more potent than traditional marijuana.

Del Curto says they called 911 and paramedics monitored all the students to make sure they were not having a dangerous reaction.

“Please be assured we're doing everything we can as a school to make sure this doesn't happen again,” said Del Curto.

“The first thing that came to my mind is irresponsible parents because that's dangerous,” said the father of the 9-year-old.

Del Curto says she was told the gummies brought to school were medicinal and she does not believe the fifth-grader who passed them out knew she was passing out drugs.

“As marijuana becomes legal in each state it's going to become more and more of an issue, I believe,” said Del Curto.

Del Curto says they are urging parents to be cautious with any drugs in their homes. As part of school policy, they do not allow students to share anything with other students that they've brought from home.