A 6-year-old boy spent hours in the emergency room after gobbling 13 times an adult dose of THC-laced candy that a North Carolina restaurant sold to an unwitting family who thought they were buying Skittles.
“I was in excruciating pain,” mother Catherine Buttereit told The Post of the ordeal.
Buttereit and his family planned a fun day of bowling for Friday in Charlotte’s South End neighborhood, which was derailed when the group went out to lunch at the Common Market, which bills itself as an “unusual convenience store, deli and bar.” .
The mother and her young son were ordering their lunch at the bar when her eyes caught sight of what she thought were freeze-dried Skittles sitting on the counter, Buttereit recalled.
It was the first time they had seen the crunchy version of the candy, which the boy had been dying to try since he found out about it on YouTube, so Buttereit easily gave in to his son’s pleas to try it.
“I said, ‘Of course you do, that looks great. Let’s try.’ And he gave me the bag and I gave it to the cashier, she marked it and we finished the transaction,” the mother said.
“They never asked me for identification. “They never informed me what I was buying.”
Catherine Buttereit purchased the bag of THC candy without showing identification or being told what she was purchasing. WSOC TV 9
The mother-son duo sat down to eat with her fiancé, her parents, and several other children in the family, all of whom tried the new candy without noticing anything strange.
While everyone in the group ate one or two pieces, Buttereit’s son ate about 40.
The effects appeared quickly: while playing duck in the restaurant next door, the boy began to complain that his pelvic area was burning, his chest was cold, his head hurt, and he had a knot in his stomach.
“But he showed no signs that my son was actually in pain. He had kind of a smile on his face,” Buttereit said.
The 6-year-old ate a third of the bag (about 13 servings for adults) before the family realized what was in it. WSOC TV 9
She initially thought he might just need to go to the bathroom, but decided to call 911 after he told her the water he was giving her tasted “disgusting,” a phenomenon Buttereit once heard is a symptom of poisoning.
That’s when Buttereit’s fiancé read the ingredients on the bag and discovered that it contained Delta-9, the main psychoactive component of the cannabis sativa plant.
“He said it was marijuana and that three pieces were an adult serving,” the surprised mother said. “So, at that point, she had consumed about a third of the package, which is between 30 and 40 pieces, they estimated at the hospital. Basically, she got like 13 times the dose of an adult and she’s like a 6-year-old weighing 40 pounds.”
Although Delta-9 is considered a therapeutic drug, doctors told Buttereit they weren’t sure what the long-term effects would be for young children.
The boy said he felt like his pelvic area was burning, that his chest was cold, that his head hurt, and that he had a knot in his stomach. WSOC TV 9
The young man slept soundly for 17 hours while in hospital before he was allowed to return home, where he slept some more.
“The first thing he said when he woke up was, ‘At least it doesn’t hurt anymore,’” Buttereit said.
While marijuana is illegal in North Carolina, Delta-9 THC products with a maximum content of 0.3% can be sold in hemp stores, convenience stores, and online stores throughout the state.
However, some packages have a suggested 21+ stamp, as Buttereit claims the package he purchased did, but in extremely small letters.
Despite its classification as a cannabis-related item, stores are not required to impose age restrictions on their sales, according to the state’s Information System.
The Common Market told a local establishment that the sweets should not have been on display and that its staff should have warned the mother about what she was buying. WSOC TV 9
However, Common Market allegedly admitted to Buttereit that they have a strict policy of identifying customers as they would alcohol drinkers and that candy is typically kept in a plexiglass box behind the counter, out of the customer’s reach.
The store did not respond to The Post’s request for comment, but confirmed to WSOCTV that the item should have been locked and that staff are trained to educate customers when purchasing such products.
The availability worries Buttereit, who fears other uneducated parents at Delta-9 could end up in the same terrifying situation.
“I’m really just trying to educate other parents and caregivers that this extremely new medication is now available in family settings where children will be, and not just in exclusive vape stores anymore,” Buttereit said. adding that business owners should “do due diligence in training and educating their employees and be very proactive in making sure these products are out of the hands of children.”
“I completely accept my negligence as a father. I made the mistake of not reading the package and I’m dealing with those consequences. But it was 50-50 negligence. “That product was not in its proper storage location.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn