USA - Pot-laced brownies sicken Galveston students

[Potter]

By DALE LEZON
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Jan. 16, 2009, 2:20PM

A student at Ball High School in Galveston has been arrested and charged with possession of marijuana after fellow students said they bought brownies from him and then became anxious and dizzy when they ate them, officials said.

The suspect’s name cannot be released because he is a juvenile, said Galveston Independent School District Police Chief LeeRoy Amador.

District officials said the student has been removed from campus and possible discipline will be determined later as the case is investigated. He could be eligible to attend an alternative campus while the case is ongoing, they said.

Amador said that at least four students, ranging in age from 14 to 16, complained of dizziness and rapid heartbeats at the school health clinic between about 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Thursday .

A fifth student later told police about having similar symptoms.

The students were treated at a Clear Lake-area hospital and released.

After authorities were alerted about the students’ conditions, investigators said, the students told them that they each had purchased a brownie from the suspect earlier in the day for between $4 and $5.

Investigators said they found that student on campus and he had a container of brownies and about $124 cash, Amador said.

Amador said investigators saw and smelled marijuana in the brownies and the suspect admitted that he had baked them and laced them with marijuana.

However, he would not disclose where he baked them. Amador said the student’s parents told investigators that the brownies were not baked at their home.

Investigators are trying to determine whether other people were involved in the enterprise.

The Texas Department of Public Safety is testing the brownies’ ingredients.

Amador said possession of marijuana on a school campus is a felony punishable by up to two years in a state jail and a $10,000 fine.

He said charges of assault with bodily injury may be filed against the suspect if prosecutors determine that the evidence warrants it.

Amador said this was the first time his office has handled such a case.

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