Halifax elementary students taken to hospital after eating cannabis edibles

Police say five Halifax elementary students were taken to hospital after eating cannabis edibles that one of them had brought to the school.

Halifax Regional Police Const. John MacLeod said officers were called to Springvale Elementary School at 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday after staff at the school noticed signs of drug ingestion by several students.

MacLeod said police discovered that a student had brought packages of labelled cannabis edibles to the school and shared them with four other students.

MacLeod said the students were taken to the IWK Health Centre. He did not have any update on their condition, although he said the consumption was not expected to be life-threatening.

He could not say exactly how old the children were, but said they were under the age of 12.

Officer says safety is primary concern

MacLeod said police are investigating the incident, including whether there was any criminal negligence, although he added that is not suspected to be the case.

Criminal negligence in such a situation could include purposefully giving a minor cannabis products, or giving them the edibles under false pretences, as in, telling them the edibles were regular candy.

But he said the primary concern of police was for the safety of the students.

"We just want to make sure that the kids received medical attention and ... talk with them and interview them to get a better perspective of exactly how they got them, where they got them, what their intentions were and those kind of things," said MacLeod.

He encouraged parents and guardians of younger children to have conversations about substances in the home.

"It's that similar message we would give to parents who have alcohol in the home or prescription medications — you need to have conversations with your kids that these certainly present dangers if ingested and they're not meant for youth," he said.

Regional centre responds

Officials with Springvale Elementary School did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday.

In a statement, Halifax Regional Centre for Education said the matter is being handled by police and in accordance with the provincial school code of conduct, which establishes standards of behaviour for all schools.

"This incident represents an opportunity for families to talk to children about the importance of not sharing food or drink with other students, and not accepting food or drink from other students," spokesperson Lindsey Bunin said in an email.

"The safety and well-being of all students is our highest priority."

Education Minister Becky Druhan called the situation "unusual" and added the incident was "an example of the ways in which challenges in communities make their way into schools."

She also highlighted that drugs are not allowed in schools and echoed the regional centre for education's message about student safety.

"It's a very, very scary situation," she told reporters on Thursday. "I know our educators work very hard to deliver curriculum to our students about safety issues around drugs, and ... the safety of our students, the safety of our children, is something that we all have a role in and we all have a responsibility for."