10 middle-school students in LA likely overdosed on cannabis edibles: Report

Nearly a dozen middle-schoolers in California evinced "mild-to-moderate distress" after apparently overdosing on cannabis edibles, reports say.

At about 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Los Angeles firefighters received a call about several students at Van Nuys Middle School expressing "medical complaints." The initial report indicated that "at least 5" students had been taken ill.

When LAFD personnel arrived, they discovered that 10 students, ranging from 12 to 15 years old, were "found to be in mild-to-moderate distress" after they apparently overdosed on a substance, now believed to be cannabis edibles.

Of the 10 students, three of them were treated at the scene, but, out of what the Los Angeles Unified School District described as "an abundance of caution," seven of them were transported to area hospitals that specialize in pediatric care. The students' conditions remain unknown, but none of the reports indicate that any of the students suffered significant injuries.

"We don't want parents to be unnecessarily worried," LAFD Capt. Erik Scott told reporters.

After the distressed students had been treated appropriately, at least 50 firefighters as well as campus police scoured the school, looking for other students who may also have needed medical assistance, but all other students were located and accounted for.

One student, 12-year-old Christopher Angel, described the three affected students from his class as "acting weird, tired, high."

LAFD dismissed suggestions that the affected students may have ingested fentanyl and instead indicated that they had likely ingested edible cannabis products, though "hospital personnel" will ultimately determine the "possible substance(s)," LAFD said. Investigators are now trying to determine whether all of the affected students ingested products from the same source.

Authorities are also trying to determine how the products came to be on campus and were distributed to students.

According to the VNMS student handbook, "marijuana, alcohol, or other drugs, including misuse of prescription drugs, are prohibited on all District properties, including District-owned, leased buildings, and in District vehicles." It also claims that any student who "unlawfully possessed, used, sold, or otherwise furnished, or been under the influence of ... an intoxicant of any kind" is subject to "suspension/expulsion."