Student hospitalized from eating marijuana brownie at school

The El Paso County Sheriff’s office said it charged a 14-year-old boy with distribution Tuesday after he gave a classmate a marijuana brownie and she went to a hospital.

School officials at Air Academy High School called the Sheriff’s Office when they discoveredwhat had caused a student to fall ill- she ate a marijuana brownie she got from a classmate. Investigators believeher classmate, a 14-year-old boy,got the brownie from an adult off campus several days ago.

Lt. Jeff Kramer with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said there is concern about Colorado’s new marijuana law and what this could mean for teenagers.

“It’s certainly a concern that we have and something that we will be watching because of marijuana being legalized for those that are 21-years-old, we recognize that the availability of marijuana may very well increase for teens so it’s something we are watching closely,” said Kramer.

Nanette Anderson with District 20 said she hasn’t seen an incident like this in the past. She said wouldn’t say what disciplinary action the school would take against the students but said the school will be following policies it hasset in place regarding illegal substances.

This is coming on the heels of a recent incident at University of Colorado. Two students brought marijuana brownies to class. The professor and fellow students didn’t know the brownies contained marijuana and ate them. The professor and two students went toa hospital.

Anderson stressed that in this incident, unlike the CU incident, the student did know she was eating a brownie laced with marijuana. Anderson said that Colorado’s new marijuana law does not change the school’s position.

“Our reminder to our students is nothing has changed for them, and they still face very serious consequences if they are distributing illegal substances at school,” said Anderson.

Kramer said there are no statistics to support Colorado’s new marijuana law and its effect on teen use of the drug. However, he said deputies will continue to keep a close eye on it.