4-year-old Hospitalized After Consuming THC Gummies in Upstate New York

A 4-year-old girl was rushed to the hospital after she accidentally ate high-potency THC gummies that were mistaken for candy.

If you have children, you know there are a million things we worry about when it comes to their safety, especially when it comes to the things they eat or drink. There are numerous items children should never ingest, including alcohol and caffeine, but with marijuana now legal in New York, parents also have to worry about kids ingesting anything made with THC.

4-Year-Old Accidentally Eats High-Potency THC Gummies in Upstate New York

According to Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple, a 4-year-old girl was hospitalized after she accidentally consumed high-potency THC gummies that were mistaken for candy. Sheriff Apple said the incident happened while the 4 year old accompanied her father to work and was sitting in a truck with a six-year-old child.

The children discovered THC-infused gummies in one of the men’s lunchboxes labeled "Super Smacked Bears," and each began to eat them. Apple said the six-year-old ate one gummy and spat it out, while the four-year-old ingested two.

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Each gummy contained 60 milligrams of THC, a psychoactive compound in marijuana, and is considered a high dose of the drug.

Child Began Hallucinating

Apple reported that approximately an hour and a half later, the 4-year-old girl woke up from a nap screaming and hallucinating, telling her parents she was seeing animals approaching her. Panicked, the young girl bit both of her parents, breaking the skin.

The child was rushed to Albany Medical Center Hospital for treatment.

Upstate New York Child Could Have Died

We spoke to Sheriff Apple, and he emphasized the importance of keeping products like this out of the sight of children. "This child could have died," said Apple. "The packaging basically lures children in. This needs to change."

Sheriff Apple explained that an incident like this is one of the adverse effects of legalized marijuana and is a major risk to young children, especially when THC gummies are packaged in bright, colorful, candy-like wrappers.

The sheriff didn't say if his office plans to file charges as a result of this incident.