A teacher in a New York school got in trouble for accidentally feeding drugs to their students. Turns out the teacher mistook some cannabis edibles for candy and thought they were safe to give to a couple of students. Authorities at the aforementioned school promptly put the teacher on paid leave after the incident, leaving many eyebrows raised at the absurdity of the situation and how it happened.
The accidental intoxication took place in Buffalo Public School 79 in New York on April 1. The school is also known as the William J. Grabiarz School of Excellence, which schools kindergarten to 8th-grade students. One of the students reported feeling sick, and this alerted the school authorities.
A spokesperson has explained that the two children (ages and names unknown) were taken to the hospital right away after consuming gummies that were actually 500 milligrams of THC edibles, which their teacher gave them during swimming class. In defense of the unnamed teacher, they mistook it for regular candy since it supposedly looked like Sour Patch Kids.
The BPS spokesperson further clarified that it might not have been the teacher who brought the edibles into school, and they merely gave what they assumed to be regular candy to students. Still, someone was responsible for planting the drugs in school, given the date on which the incident occurred.
“The parents of the two affected students were immediately notified, along with the Buffalo Police. The district placed the teacher on paid administrative leave the same day as the incident. Please be assured that the incident was taken extremely seriously and was responded to swiftly.
Students who bring in snacks are only allowed to consume them during lunch and are not to share them with other students for health and safety reasons,” according to the BPS spokesperson, transcript courtesy of WGRZ.
Sadly, the unnamed teacher was still among the prime suspects and was promptly placed on paid administrative leave on the very same day the incident happened. So far, the school hasn’t determined who the culprit is.
Some Things Don’t Add Up
The date of the incident and how it unfolded have certainly made many people confused and speculative. One of the most immediate suspicions pointed out was how the students in swim class weren’t even allowed to eat anything, yet the teacher gave two of them candy.
People who do consume edibles legally were also aware of just how much the marijuana-laced gummies have packaging that’s easy to mistake for regular candy.
“There really needs to be a huge crackdown on edible packaging that looks like candy. Tobacco companies can’t as so much use an animated character in a print ad because it can appeal to kids, but it’s cool for edible manufacturers to look just like things kids normally consume,” suggests Redditor eaglescout1984
“Such a weird story. The kids were swimming and the teacher was like “hey you want some candy?” not realizing they had purchased edibles in the recent past of exactly the same kind of gummies?,” says Redditor SoggyMcChicken
“Either it was intentional or this person needs their head checked for early onset Alzheimer’s. Cause that’s a weird thing to mix up considering how difficult thc packaging is to get open,” replied succed32
Meanwhile, the parents of the two affected students were worried about the safety of their children and other students in the school. One of the victims, JaiAire Richardson, appears to be alright and healthy now, but his heart rate was concerningly high prior to the hospitalization, according to his parents.