Durham’s public school board says it is looking into how to “enhance” its curriculum over the next year to teach children about marijuana-laced edibles.
The Durham District School Board (DDSB) says it would like to include information in its lesson plans about the new legislation as Canada gets closer to legalizing pot. However, the legalization date is up in the air, and Health Canada has said that edibles and specific concentrates will be legalized no later than 12 months after the Cannabis Act comes into force.
Dan Hogan, the substance abuse/violence prevention co-ordinator at the DDSB, says teachers may bring in fake edible packages to show children what these can look like and how to differentiate these from unlaced treats.
“The packaging for a lot of the edibles — particularly, things like gummy bears — really looks like gummy bear packaging,” he said. “It looks like something that you want kids to have, and that’s true about almost all the packaged products.”
Many Durham parents are concerned about children’s access to edibles after two separate incidents earlier this month at Clara Hughes Public School in Oshawa, Ont. The DDSB says a Grade 6 student brought home-baked cookies to school as a treat on May 14, and after consuming these, four students reported feeling dizzy and euphoric.
A week before this incident, four children in Grade 7 and 8 consumed THC-infused pre-packaged gummy bears brought in by one of the students.
Duncan McKerchar, whose 11-year-old daughter attends the elementary school, says she was not involved in the incidents but he was “floored” when his daughter told him what happened. “It’s scary to know that it could have been my child,” he said.
The parent says he, or his daughter’s mother, packs her lunch every day to ensure they know what she is eating.
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“If someone offers you food in school, I’d stay away from eating it because you never know what could be inside of this food,” said Tudos.
Hogan says he has started a committee involving Durham police, the region’s health department and the Catholic school board to make sure the messaging to kids surrounding pot use will be the same across Durham Region.
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