The sale of a marijuana laced sweet which resulted in more than 60 students at the Ocho Rios Primary school getting ill on Monday, has re-ignited fresh concerns about school vendors.
The students became sick after consuming the ganja-laced sweets from an unfamiliar vendor at the St Ann based institution. The candies were packaged as Sour Belts, and marked as containing Delta-8 THC. The packaging of the sweet indicates that it has 10 servings. It was sold to the students despite a warning that it be kept out of the reach of children and it is “not intended for use by anyone under 21 years of age”.
The students started to show symptoms — vomiting, feeling dizzy, blacking out —from in the morning. Some were taken to the St. Ann’s Bay Hospital by a bus following arrangements by the school’s administrator, while others were taken by their parents.
Education and Youth Minister, Fayval Williams, in a post on social media platforms Instagram and X (formerly twitter), urged parents to speak with their children about consuming dangerous products.
Administrators at the institution say new rules will be implemented regarding the way students are dropped off at school.
The incident is being investigated by the police.
