Is Marijuana Dangerous? Pot-Laden Baked Goods Make 6 North Carolina Hospital Employees Ill

A hospital in Statesville, North Carolina, had to treat six of its employees after they fell ill as a result of consuming cookies and muffins that were laced with marijuana that was brought in by another employee of the hospital.

An employee of the Davis Regional Medical Center brought in the baked goods Sunday evening. After the other employees ate the cookies, tests showed that they had ingested THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the main psychoactive component in marijuana, the Associated Press reported.

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The employee who brought in the pot-laced eatables told police that he was not aware that the sweets contained cannabis. It was later revealed that a member of the worker’s family had baked the sweets using a cannabis-infused oil, however, they were not meant to be eaten by the staff at the hospital.

“The higher the THC content, the stronger the effects on the brain,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on its website. “Newly popular methods of using marijuana (e.g., dabbing, edibles) may deliver very high levels of THC to the user.”

Reports say that the district attorney’s office has decided not to bring charges against the employee or the family member, as no drugs were found in the latter’s possession at the time of questioning.

The hospital said that the incident did not have a detrimental effect on patient care at the facility. Local news outlet Statesville Record & Landmark quoted spokeswoman Janie Stikeleather as saying, “We are committed to providing patients with safe care and we appreciate the timely action of our director to manage the situation.”

The recreational or medicinal use of marijuana is prohibited in North Carolina but the state has partially decriminalized possession of pot. This means that even though the possession of less than a half-ounce of marijuana is considered a criminal misdemeanor, it does not carry the threat of jail time.