10-Year-Old Shares Dad's Marijuana Edibles In School; Classmates Hospitalized

A 10-year-old girl in Ohio brought her father's marijuana gummies to school and shared them with her fellow students last week, resulting in several of them getting hospitalized.

The unnamed child found five edibles containing 50 milligrams (3.5 ounces) of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive component of cannabis, in a glass jar in her family's kitchen cabinet and placed them in her school lunch after mistaking them for leftover Easter candy, ABC 6 reported, citing court documents.

She shared the marijuana gummies with her fellow students at Windermere Elementary School last Friday, officials with the Upper Arlington Police Department said.

At least five students from the school showed signs of impairment, nausea, hallucinations and elevated heart rates, and they were taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital, according to a report by NBC 4.

The children are currently "doing okay", said Upper Arlington School officials.

The ingestion of 50 milligrams of THC can cause "extreme" side effects such as rapid heart rate and pain. Consuming between the amount and 100 milligrams should be taken by "experienced THC individuals only," another NBC 4 story said, citing the Ohio Marijuana Card.

Marijuana ingestion can also suppress functioning and alertness, among other things, Dr. Derek McCellan, the Pediatric Director at care group Central Ohio Primary Care, said.

"A kid with that size the first time getting that big dose, yeah, that’s going to affect them a lot different than, say, the parent, who, let’s say, has been taking this regularly for the past three or four years," McCellan explained.

The girl's father, identified as 43-year-old pediatrician Scott C. Macre, has since been charged with endangering children, possession of controlled substances and obstructing official business.

Macre purchased the marijuana gummies in Colorado in 2018 and used them for an undisclosed medical condition.

The father took them while intoxicated last Thursday and put them in a kitchen cabinet instead of returning them to the bedroom where he normally stored them.

Macre allegedly returned home after finding out what had happened in school and told detectives to wait outside.

He then proceeded to get rid of the remaining edibles by throwing them down the garbage disposal before consenting to a search.