JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Experts with Florida Poison Control have a warning for parents after five Duval County students were taken to the hospital from Twin Lakes Academy Middle School Monday due to eating an "unknown gummy substance,” according to the district.
School district officials say at least six students ate them and a Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department captain says five students went to the hospital.
Data shows Florida Poison Control Centers are getting more calls over children ingesting edibles with psychoactive ingredients. They say they're mostly concerned with younger kids like toddlers, but parents of adolescents should also be on alert.
“Over the past five years, we've seen a dramatic increase in the number of exposures to these types of products,” said Dawn Sollee, director of the Florida Poison Information Center in Jacksonville.
Sollee says they’re getting more calls now because there are many different types of edibles, including synthetic, and they take many different forms now, from cereal to gummies. Sollee showed First Coast News a container of gummy vitamins and gummy candies to show how similar the two look.
“Because of the potency of some of these edible products, there have been cases of seizures even happening in toddlers,” she said.
Data from the Florida Poison Information Center Network shows nearly 800 pediatric hemp extract exposures were reported in Florida last year. That number has increased every year, with only 333 pediatric exposures reported in 2020.
Sollee says edibles need to be locked away from young children.
“For example, they may tell you that a dose is one quarter of a gummy worm,” Sollee said. “I don't know about you, I don't know any child that's going to eat one quarter of a gummy worm. So therefore, when they eat the whole thing, it has a very high concentration and more than what a child should ever have.”
Laws now regulate what certain edibles’ packaging can look like. Legislation limiting the potency of certain edibles is advancing in Florida’s legislature.
Back at Twin Lakes Academy, school district officials say disciplinary action is being taken against the students involved.