Two Canadians have been arrested in central Canada for giving young people cannabis-infused candy for Halloween, while a child near Vancouver was hospitalized after being the victim of a similar incident, police said.
Police in Winnipeg, Manitoba, announced Wednesday that they have arrested a 63-year-old man and 53-year-old woman suspected of distributing candy containing THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the main psychoactive molecule in cannabis. included Halloween evening for children.
In all, more than a dozen youths, ages 6 to 16, collected the psychoactive candy, according to police investigators.
Adults can legally buy cannabis in Canada, which in 2018 became the first country in the G20 and the second country in the world to legalize recreational cannabis.
“As a parent, I am devastated by what has happened,” Winnipeg Police Officer Dani McKinnon said at a news conference. Unfortunately, as a police officer, I’m not surprised,” she added, urging parents to check the contents of their children’s crops.
Each of the two suspects faces 13 charges, including distributing cannabis to minors and endangering the lives of others.
In the western part of the country, in the suburbs of Vancouver, British Columbia, an 11-year-old child was hospitalized on Monday after falling ill after unknowingly ingesting candy containing THC. In this case, the police could not identify the stove from which the sweets came.