Seven children at Amherst, Virginia’s Central Elementary School got sick today after eating gummy bears from a plastic bag that had once held fentanyl.
Hayden Wright, 10, was one of five children who were hospitalized after eating the gummies, his mother said.
“A child that was in his class approached other children and him with some gummy bears in a sandwich baggie and asked them did they want any,” local mother Kristina Wright told The Epoch Times.
“So my son, amongst other children, decided to eat them. My son ingested 10 of them. He says other kids ate more. Some kids ate less.”
She said she did not believe the gummy bears were intentionally contaminated, but instead may have been put into a tainted plastic bag.
“It was literally gummies from Sam’s Club that had residue of fentanyl on the sandwich baggie,” said Ms. Wright.
Later, the Amherst County Sheriff’s office tested the bag that held the gummy bears and found fentanyl traces, according to an updated announcement.
The contamination was likely unintentional, the ACPS executive assistant to the superintendent, Brittany McNerney, told The Epoch Times.
She also said the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office has “arrested two adult individuals in connection with this case.”
Ms. Wright said Hayden has recovered and has no trace of fentanyl in his system.
Drugs in School
Ms. Wright said Amherst hadn’t seen incidents like this one before.“This happens to everybody else, but it doesn’t happen somewhere like Amherst County,” she said. “It doesn’t happen in our backyards.”
The Epoch Times reached out to Amherst County police for arrest reports on the case but hasn’t yet received an answer.
In Amherst County Public Schools, the fentanyl incident has already changed school policy, Ms. Wright said. The school has banned sharing food unless students bring it to school prepackaged from a grocery store, she said.
“Unfortunately, you know, these kids have Christmas parties coming up,” she said. “There’s no more homemade bakes, there’s no more cupcakes, cookies, anything like that.”
Ms. Wright also said she suspects policies like these might spread “worldwide” in response to the dangers fentanyl presents.
“This is just a wake-up call for all the parents ... in today’s society and in the world that we live in. There is no more sharing, and you never know what you'll get,” she said.
Although these measures have far-reaching effects, Ms. Wright said they aren’t an inappropriate reaction.
Dangerous Substances
In a world where highly toxic drugs have spread across America, keeping children from overdose may be harder than ever, Ms. Wright said.Most fentanyl in America is made in Mexican drug factories from Chinese chemicals, according to the DEA. Then, cartels ship it over the border.
Often, cartels disguise fentanyl to resemble prescription drugs, the DEA said on its website.
“No pharmaceutical pill bought on social media is safe,” the DEA said. “The only safe medications are ones prescribed directly to you by a trusted medical professional and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist.”
Ms. Wright advised parents to pay close attention to what their children eat and drink at school.
“Speak to your children. Let them know what’s going on; let them know how serious it can be. Let them know to be aware of their surroundings when it comes to anybody handing them anything.”
