Tonight, almost thirty children are in the hospital recovering after they ingested an unknown drug that was infused into their candy.
Those in the marijuana world will know that smoking isn't the only way to get high, and that eating an edible can have even more potent effects, especially if one eats too much.
Well, today somehow those adult edibles got into the hands of school children in the Lake Independence area causing the KHMH to trigger a mass casualty code as sick patients flooded into the emergency room.
Tonight, we stress, no one is dead, and there are no serious injuries, but it is a huge community scare. Courtney Menzies reports:
This crying baby boy is one of 33 persons who were rushed to the hospital after they ingested what appeared to be drug-infused candy.
The candy was sold in this silver packet for $1 a bag, and it contained several treats including rice crispies and gummy bears.
Any child would gobble the candies up in a second, without thinking what may be inside them, especially since most of them bought it from school. But once the effects of the drug kicked in this afternoon, it turned into chaos.
One grandmother said she was taking her granddaughter to the hospital when she learned her husband had collapsed.
Francine Wade, Grandmother of Students
"I don't know what happened, my daughter called me and told me, because my granddaughter woke up sick, I took home 7 packs last night so I always take home snacks for them when I come to Belize, so my granddaughter took a little piece last night, so she said she would take it to school but she ate a piece last night and this morning when she woke up for school, she didn't feel good, she said her belly was hurting her so she didn't go to school so just my grandson came to school but my daughter called and told me that the little boy is in the hospital so I have to bring the little girl down. And when I was coming with the little girl from Ladyville, it was then that she told me she had to go for my husband because he ate a pack and he's diabetic."
"Three of my people are in hospital, my grandson that's 12, my granddaughter that's 9, and my husband that's 55."
Courtney Menzies:
"How are the children doing?"
Francine Wade, Grandmother of Students
"Well, they look dizzy, they're giving them drips, they're taking blood work and thing."
Courtney Menzies:
"But your husband ate six so how is he doing?"
Francine Wade, Grandmother of Students
"He didn't eat six, he ate one pack but like six pieces of the candy and I guess he passed out because he's diabetic. He was vomiting up too so they have him on the bed already."
Courtney Menzies:
"How distressing is all this for you? so, where did you buy it from, you bought it from last night?"
Francine Wade, Grandmother of Students
"I didn't buy it, a friend of mine gave it to me to take some snacks for my babies."
Courtney Menzies:
"She didn't you where she got it from?"
Francine Wade, Grandmother of Students
"No. Three of them. You don't know it's what so you're confused."
Reporter:
"What's it like inside there right now?"
Francine Wade, Grandmother of Students
"A lot of kids, chaos, doctors and nurses are running up and down, everybody is trying to make sure they're tending to the kids good, checking their vitals, check on them constantly, if they can get up, if they can sit down up, check their eyes if they're dizzy or something."
Olga Gordon, Grandmother of Student
"My daughter called me and the excitement in her voice, she was saying mommy Jay D ate something that have in drugs or something from school that they bought and they are in the hospital and other children are there, to please call this one and that one. So I ran to the homes where she asks me to go and I ask the parents to please go to the hospital, because something had happened."
"My first instinct was to go to school, so I went to St. Luke, because I live behind there and some of the kids that I have in my youth group goes to that school and when I got there, it was a chaos. I saw the police and I saw parents were out there trying to make noise to ask them to please let go the children to go home."
"While some of the kids started to come out, there were some boys yelling for help and when I look, I saw people dropping who ate this thing. Police needs to get on top of this to find out where it came from, because I don't think those people made it, they purchase it from somebody. Do they know this would have been the effect? Is it to kill out our children? We don't know."
And the police immediately sprang into action, and they already have suspects in their custody. But the question remains whether these vendors knew what exactly they were selling.
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC, Eastern Division
"We immediately dispatched investigators as well as other personnel from the department to conduct searches and to find out what was happening. So far, we have recovered several packages of gummies which the student claim they had consumed. Presently several searches are being conducted around Belize City and we have recovered several packages and investigation continues at this time."
Courtney Menzies:
"Anybody detained as yet?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC, Eastern Division
"Yes we have several persons detained and searches are being conducted at this time."
Courtney Menzies:
"These people were found with the packets?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC, Eastern Division
"Yes, some of them were found with the packets of gummies. Samples have been taken to the forensic laboratory to determine what substance is contained in these gummies."
Reporter:
"Is there concern over perhaps a wider distribution than just St Luke's?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC, Eastern Division
"Yes, that is a concern that it was distributed in a wide area within Belize City and so we are advising the public that if they come across any of these gummies not to consume it and to call us so we go and retrieve them so that they can be tested."
Reporter:
"Could an angle be that perhaps the candies were stolen and the people selling it were not aware of the commodity that they were selling?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC, Eastern Division
"Yeah, probably that is a possibility, again the investigation will reveal that and we are on the ground doing a lot of work."
And so is the staff at the KHMH. They had to open an additional unit after an influx of students began coming in around 1:30 this afternoon. But since then, the 29 children and 4 adults are reportedly in a stable condition, however, they are still showing symptoms.
Chandra Cansino, CEO, KHMH
"Primarily lethargy, nausea, vomiting, headache, dizziness and some with a little bit of tremors."
Courtney Menzies:
"And how are they being treated?"
Chandra Cansino, CEO, KHMH
"We have protocols in place for the treatment of those symptoms with the suspicion that they ingested something."
Courtney Menzies:
"Are you all responsible or how do you go about testing to see if these children have drugs in their system?"
Chandra Cansino, CEO, KHMH
"We have routine tests that we do, urinalysis and blood tests that are currently at the lab awaiting the toxicology reports."
Reporter:
"And how long do you expect they will remain in the hospital for something like this?"
Chandra Cansino, CEO, KHMH
"It's hard to say, their symptoms are being monitored, some have more symptoms than others so that would depend on what the doctor decides."
Chandra Cansino, CEO, KHMH
"They're basically all under control at this time and they're all pretty stable, we just have some that have a bit of tachycardia and a little bit of shortness of breath, might be related to anxiety, it's the first time they're experiencing these feelings so it's a little bit scary for the kids so we have the full team here including the social services, the government ministries, all the relevant ministries are here as well so everybody has responded."
And for these parents and students, it's one of the most frightening experiences, and they are hoping that the perpetrator is brought to justice.
The youngest child to have been taken in to the KHMH is 4 years old. Currently there are 29 kids and 4 adults hospitalized at the KHMH.
And, our news team did smell the candies and picked up the high and unmistakeable scent of marijuana.
A statement this evening from the Office of the Prime Minister says that "a full and thorough investigation be conducted to determine the source of some sweet treats, laced with marijuana, that were ingested by a number of children and adults admitted at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) today."
The release adds, "Twenty-seven children, aged 5 to 15 years, have been examined at the KHMH along with four adults who appeared to be intoxicated. At the time of the incident, some of the children were unresponsive and unconscious. Presently, all children and adults are in a stable condition.
The treats were collected for forensic analysis along with urine samples…..
The Ministry of Health & Wellness has dispatched public health inspectors and NDACC case officers to the affected primary school to investigate."
The ministry advises parents and guardians to monitor their children for signs and symptoms of:
1. Vomiting
2. Abdominal pain
3. Dehydration
4. Profuse sweating
Based on the signs and symptoms, the presumptive diagnosis is that of marijuana intoxication.
Initial information is that the treats were purchased from two individuals, who are now in police custody along with some recovered items. During their interviews, the suspects claimed that the treats were purchased from another source. The Commissioner of Police has instructed that a thorough investigation be conducted to identify the primary source of the product."
