How Cannabis Edibles Upended St. Luke’s Primary School
Thirty-one primary school students and seven adults were hospitalized on Tuesday in a first-of-its-kind marijuana intoxication outbreak. The incident continues to make headlines, as investigations are being carried out by the Belize Police Department, the Ministry of Education, as well as the Ministry of Human Development. What we have been able to gather since the frightening event is that a quantity of cannabis edibles was discarded by an exhibit keeper with the police department. Those food items were disposed of at the Belize City Transfer Station, where persons rummaging through the garbage happened upon the candies. Tonight, News Five looks at multiple angles of what transpired, including the treatment provided by a pediatrician at the K.H.M.H, and interviews with the ministers of Home Affairs and Education. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
The public health crisis that unfolded at St. Luke’s Methodist Primary School on Tuesday, ended with thirty-one students being hospitalized at the KHMH. This was after they began experiencing marijuana intoxication from mistakenly consuming cannabis edibles. Among them were two children, including a four-year-old, who were stricken by the effects of the drug.
Cecilio Eck
Dr. Cecilio Eck, Pediatrician
“The two that were admitted actually had huge doses that were taken in. One was actually eating it from the day before, fell ill and stayed at home and then continued to it yesterday. So [he] ended up being admitted.”
A majority of those who were taken in for emergency medical attention were treated and released on the same day, however, both boys were kept overnight for further observation.
Dr. Cecilio Eck
“The other kid that was admitted, the mom told me this morning, he’s the dur in the class because he brought it and he spread it. He shared it with everybody and so not only was he admitted, but all his friends went to A&E with him. But, because they were bigger kids and they didn’t eat as much and they actually were released yesterday but he actually had to remain.”
Chief Executive Officer Chandra Cansino later confirmed that a total of thirty-one children and seven adults were hospitalized on Tuesday, after exhibiting symptoms consistent with intoxication. This afternoon, the Minister of Home Affairs explained to the media how the confiscated sweets ended up in the hands of street vendors.
Kareem Musa
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
“It is an issue that originated, as I understand it, with the Customs Department who turned over the suspected cannabis. I think at the point of entry, it was classified as suspected cannabis edibles, turned it over to the Anti-Narcotics Unit who thereafter turned it over to the exhibit keeper. The decision of discarding the product that was confiscated by the Customs Department, and as I understand it, he is saying to the police that he discarded it because of the scent that it was giving off within the exhibit room. As I understand it, he discarded it at the dump on the Western Highway at which point individuals who were at the dumpsite found the discarded material and thereafter took it to the children and sold it to the children at the school.”
It’s an unfortunate incident that speaks directly to an individual decision taken by the exhibit keeper to dispose of the drug-laced food items in that manner, despite the candies being thrown away at the Belize City Transfer Station. Earlier today, Minister of Education Francis Fonseca also discussed the occurrence.
Francis Fonseca
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“I think this highlights the need for us to have a more effective policy on school vendors. We tend to have a very lax approach to school vendors. Every school decides, you know, who wahn sell. Some vendors are selling on the campus; some, the schools say no, you can’t come on the campus but you can sell outside at the school gates. I think it’s important for us to recognize and acknowledge that where those loopholes exist in terms of those school vendors, all of us will have to work together, the schools, Ministry of Education, City Council and the Ministry of Health, the people who actually certify these food handlers certificates to see if there are any loopholes there and if there are, how can we close them and address them.”
Back at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, the experience inside the Accident and Emergency Unit, according to Dr. Cecilio Eck, was quite bizarre.
Dr. Cecilio Eck
“When I went into the emergency room, initially there were about twelve, fifteen kids with varying degrees of, I’ll say stupor. Some were very obtunded, not breathing or having difficulty breathing. We had some who were agitated, we had some who were trembling. All of them seemed very out of it or drunk-like. So that was the situation that I went into.”
Isani Cayetano for News Five.
