A 6-year-old spent hours in the emergency room after ingesting 13 times an adult dose of THC-laced candy at a North Carolina restaurant unwittingly sold a family who thought they were buying Skittles.
“He was in a lot of pain,” mother Catherine Buttereit told The Post of the ordeal.
Buttereit and his family were having fun with duckpin bowling planned for Friday in Charlotte’s seedy South End neighborhood when the group went out for lunch at the Common Market, billed as “an unusual convenience store, deli and bar.”
A mother and her young son were ordering their lunch at the bar when her eyes caught what she thought were freeze-dried Skittles sitting on the counter, Buttereit said.
It was the first time they had seen the crunchy version of the candy — which the boy had been dying to try since learning about it on YouTube — so Buttereit easily gave in to his son’s plea to try it.
“I said, “Of course yes, that looks great. Let’s try.’ And he handed me the bag and I handed it to the cashier, he punched it and we got it done,” said the mother.
“I was never asked for ID. I was never informed of what I bought.”
Catherine Buttereit bought a bag of THC candy without showing identification or being told what she was buying. 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 party ate a piece or two, Buttereit’s son ate nearly 40 pieces.
The effect happened quickly — while playing duckpin next to the restaurant, the boy began to complain that his pelvic area was on fire, his chest was frozen, his head hurt and his stomach was in knots.
“But he did not show the symptoms of my son who was actually in pain. He seemed to have a smile on his face,” Buttereit said.
The 6-year-old ate a third of the bag – about 13 adult servings – before the family realized its contents. WSOC TV 9
She initially thought she might just need to use the bathroom, but decided to call 911 after she told the water she’d been drinking tasted “disgusting” to her — a phenomenon Buttereit had heard was a symptom of poisoning.
That’s when Buttereit’s fiancé read the bag’s ingredients and discovered it was laced with Delta-9, the primary psychoactive component of the sativa cannabis plant.
“He said it was a pot of weed and three lumps was an adult side dish,” said the shocked mother. “So at that point, he had consumed about a third of the package, which is about 30 to 40 pieces estimated at the hospital. So he basically has 13 times the adult dose and he’s like a 40-pound 6-year-old.”
Although Delta-9 is considered a therapeutic drug, doctors told Buttereit they are unsure of the long-term effects for such small, young children.
The boy said he felt his pelvic area burning, his chest freezing, his head aching and his stomach knotted. WSOC TV 9
The youngster slept in a deep 17-hour sleep while in hospital before he was allowed to go home, where he slept again.
“The first thing he said when he woke up was, ‘At least it doesn’t hurt anymore,'” Buttereit said.
Although 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.
Some packages, however, have the suggested 21+ stamp on them, as Buttereit claims the package he bought does, but in very small print.
Despite being classified as marijuana-related items, stores do not have to enforce age restrictions for their sales, according to the state Information System.
Common Market told a local store that the candy should not have been on display and that its staff should have warned the mother about what she was buying. WSOC TV 9
Common Market, however, allegedly admitted to Buttereit that they have a strict policy to identify customers as they do for alcoholics and that the candy is typically kept in Plexiglas containers behind the counter, out of reach of customers.
The store did not respond to The Post’s request for comment, but confirmed to WSOCTV that the items are supposed to be locked up and that staff are trained to educate customers when purchasing those types of products.
The availability concerned Buttereit, who feared that other uneducated parents in Delta-9 could end up in the same terrifying situation.
“I’m really just trying to bring awareness to parents and other caregivers that these very new medicinal products are now available in family-type settings where children will be, not just in exclusive vape-type shops anymore,” said Buttereit, adding that business owners need to “do their due diligence in training and educating their employees and be very proactive in keeping these products out of the hands of children.”
“I fully accept my negligence as a parent. I made the mistake of not reading the package and I am dealing with the consequences. But it’s 50-50 negligence. The product is not in the proper storage place.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
