Adult-use cannabis could become legal next year if green lit by Maryland voters.

A Maryland middle school has become the latest educational facility to discover cannabis edibles among its student body over recent months.

This week, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) reported a school administrator at Benjamin Stoddert Middle School notified a school resource officer (SRO) that a student had been found with suspected marijuana edibles. The SRO then notified a parent.

“Parents are asked to talk with their children about the dangers of ingesting foods or liquids that contain dangerous substances, as there is a risk the substance could be life-threatening and contain poisons such as fentanyl or other toxic materials,” notes the CCSO statement.

Symptoms of cannabis intoxication in children include loss of coordination, sleepiness, trouble breathing and even coma in rare cases, according to Children’s Hospital Colorado. Research by Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children found “significantly higher rates of intensive care admission and more severe presentations” to its emergency department for unintentional cannabis poisonings in those under 12 after Canada legalized recreational cannabis.

The Benjamin Stoddert Middle School covers grades six, seven and eight.

Medicinal marijuana is legal in Maryland, while recreational is not. According to Ballotpedia, however, the Maryland Marijuana Legalization Amendment is on the ballot this coming November 8.

If a majority of voters okay legalizing adult-use cannabis for those 21 and older as of July 2023, the state legislature will begin work “to pass laws for the use, distribution, regulation and taxation of marijuana.”

As it stands, penalties for possessing cannabis depend on several factors, including the amount of drug found, if it was for personal use or distribution, if it was distributed to a minor and if possession was within a specified distance from an elementary or secondary educational institution, Price Benowitz LLP explains.

The incident involving cannabis edibles and students is one of a number that have unfolded recently.

On Apr. 1 at Coakley Middle School in Norwood, Mass., an unidentified number of students given pieces of a chocolate bar on school grounds during lunchtime may not have known the treat contained cannabis. The school has students in grades six through eight.

In early April, a school in New Mexico announced an elementary student had shared THC-infused cannabis edibles with 14 other pupils. The school reported all students “have been evaluated and are under the care of medical personnel and are stable.”

Later that same month in Ohio, the 43-year-old father of a fourth-grader who had earlier brought cannabis edibles to school, believing them to be leftover Easter candy, was charged in connection with the incident.

Five children at the Windermere Elementary School became ill on Apr. 21 after sharing a non-school food item during lunch, school principal Julie Nolan reported to parents. The five pupils, all aged 11 or younger, reportedly included the 10-year-old girl and four others.

And in Michigan, Click on Detroit reported in May that a fifth-grade student at Grand River Academy brought THC candy to class and shared it with a classmate. Both children were hospitalized as a precaution.

The investigation into the recent incident at the Maryland middle school is continuing.

Student understanding and attitudes towards cannabis may play an important role in avoiding concerning incidents for children and youths.

Looking at slightly older students, a Canadian study released in the spring of 2021 found a segment of pupils with driver’s licences got behind the wheel after consuming the drug. Overall, 10 per cent of Ontario high schoolers admitted to having driven within an hour after using weed in the last year. Students with more relaxed views towards weed were more likely to do so.

Another Canadian study from 2022 concluded that Canada may, indeed, require plain packaging for edible cannabis products, but that doesn’t mean it sends a clear and consistent message to young adult consumers. Although those consumers supported standardized packaging, they balked at messages designed to deter consumption outright.