Two children hospitalized after eating THC candy from a food bank

NBC News ^ | April 4, 2020 | Nicole Acevedo

[nickcarraway]

At least five children ate candy containing high THC doses after the Utah Food Bank distributed it as part of their food donations, police said.

At least two children are hospitalized after eating THC candy from a food bank in Utah.

An 11-year-old and a 5-year-old were taken to a hospital Friday night after consuming “Medicated Nerds Rope” candy given to their families as part of a food distribution effort from a church working with the Utah Food Bank.

Roy City Police said volunteers at the food bank distributed more than 60 bags that contained three to four servings of the candy rope. Labels in the candy indicate that each one contains 400 milligrams of THC. Adults are normally prescribed between 15 to 45 milligrams of the psychoactive marijuana component.

candy that were infused with THC and distributed to families by the Utah Food Bank.Roy City Police Three other children also consumed the candy, but were not taken to a hospital, police said.

"Right now, we do not believe nor do we have any evidence to support that the donation was intentional. We have discussed this issue with our local food bank and it appears to be an accident," police sergeant Matthew Gwynn told NBC News in a statement.

Utah Food Bank president and CEO Ginette Bott apologized "to any families who may have received this product."

“We are absolutely horrified that this product went out to any of our partner agencies, and can easily see how volunteers would not have known what to look for,” she told KSL, an NBC affiliate station in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Bott also said the Utah Food Bank is also "changing our processes involving such donations immediately to avoid this happening again" as demand for food and donations continues to increase due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Landlord waives April rent for 200 tenants amid pandemic, wants everybody 'healthy' Ferrara Candy Company, the parent company of Nerds, said in a statement Saturday that the product was counterfeit,

"We want to reassure consumers that Nerds products donated directly by the company ... are safe to consume," it said.

John Thomas, interim pastor of the Roy Baptist Church, which distributed the food bank donations containing the THC candy, said volunteers were trying a new delivery system in an effort to implement coronavirus-related precautions, KSL reported.

Under normal circumstances, people come inside the church and choose what they need, said Thomas. Instead, volunteers were giving families bags of previously packaged food in a drive-thru set up.

[Tax-chick]

... easily see how volunteers would not have known what to look for,

It would never have crossed my mind that the candy was full of drugs.

Yet another burden put on decent people who are just trying to help.

[skr]

I just checked the internet, and it’s clearly a THC product. Shame on the person who donated it, and shame on those who should’ve asked questions when they saw “medicated” on the label.

[SkyPilot]

https://hightimes.com/news/obama-smoking-weed/

Author Ed Klein detailed in his new book All Out War: The Plot to Destroy Trump, that, per a close friend of Obama, the former commander-in-chief has refused to lead a “resistance” against the Trump party, and instead chooses to spend his time “playing video games, chatting on the phone with celebrity pals, smoking marijuana and popping cannabis-infused gummy bears.”

“Barack sees himself as sort of a hipster ex-president, a cool guy,” said the friend. “He wants to go back in terms of fashion and style to his pot-smoking days as a member of the Choom Gang at the Punahou School in Hawaii.”

Per the friend, Obama stopped smoking weed as president, because he believed it somewhat hindered his judgment. However, now that he’s not the primary decision-maker of the United States, coupled with the fact that it’s legal in the District of Columbia, there’s not much stopping Obama from smoking up on a somewhat regular basis.

[AmericanMermaid]

Hard to believe this clown was voted, twice, to be the President of the United States of America. That was an honor he never deserved.

[humblegunner]

That stuff is expensive, nobody “donates” it.
The kids bought it and underestimated the potency.

[JediJones]

[eldoradude]

can easily see how volunteers would not have known what to look for

BS, only if their IQ is lower than the value of a quarter.

[Delta 21]

My next plan is to become homeless and hungry in Utah!

[FR_addict]

I hope he continues that lifestyle.

[yldstrk]

Good pass-time for him.

[Stravinsky]

Indeed. The “Nerds rope” is a popular candy with kids these days. If one were quickly going through and sorting tons of donated items, it would be easy to see those words and the general shape and toss it in with the rest of the candy.

[4yearlurker]

Then count me in too. Less than 25. I was a teen in the 1970s and saw all kinds of drugs. But I never heard of THC candy till I saw this on the news.

[Tax-chick]

I think a normal person would see a bag of candy and toss it in without its ever crossing his mind that it could contain THC. People who think one ought to be aware of this possibility are living a different kind of life.

[eldoradude]

Then count me in too

Can't count you in there, you're a FReeper - the candy is clearly labeled. Even if you'd never heard of it you would notice the labeling and question it.

[NativeSon]

Because “free candy” has never been suspect.

I always check over the labeling on candy, if it’s “made in China” it goes in the garbage.

[Tax-chick]

I think candy as a food class is Satanic. It causes otherwise perfectly nice children to lie and steal and fight one another like starving ferrets. Rots their teeth, too.

If I were running the food bank, I would throw all candy straight in the trash on that principle.

[deport]

West Virginia

[NativeSon]

Completely agree, candy is not food and you’re better off without it.

And now I want some skittles.

[DeplorableGirl]

No you wouldn’t. When you’re packing hundreds of bags of groceries nobody is going to notice what a bag of candy looks like & if it has certain words on the label.
Same for diabetics. Nobody checks labels for “sugar free”. You get what they can give you. As a recipient at a local food Bank & diabetic, I know this.
Point is, there simply isn’t the time to examine every package. Maybe you could volunteer some & report back on all your solutions.