Days after students sent to hospital after eating THC gummies, family member & area doctor reflect

PITT COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) - Several students at an Eastern Carolina middle school were treated Friday at ECU Health after showing signs of impairment.

The Pitt County Sheriff’s Office says at about 9:30 a.m. Friday, several Hope Middle School students were acting abnormally and showing signs of impairment.

Deputies said that during the resulting investigation, a package of THC gummies and a quantity of marijuana were seized.

Jyquante Spruill, 14, was one of the students affected. His family was alerted that he had passed out in gym class and that paramedics were on the way.

Kesha Spruill, Jyquante’s grandmother, was made aware of the situation while at work.

“I got real upset, real jittery, just scared and nervous. And I made sure that my job was completed and I just left. And when I got back there with him, the way he was laid out of it...” Kesha Spruill recalled. “If someone were offering me candy and I’m a child, all kids love candy.”

Jyquante was released after getting checked out by medical staff and deputies told his family that no legal action would be taken against him.

For ECU Health pediatrician Dr. Ledoux, the gummies are worthy of concern.

“Parents and families need to educate themselves and educate their children that number one, there are these substances that are out there that are marketed in a way that make it look very appealing and almost candy-like and that they should never be taking any of those types of things, pills, gummies, anything like that,” Ledoux said.

The doctor also explained what can come out of the consumption of THC gummies.

“Slurred speech, stumbling, falling asleep, you know in severe cases if you took a lot of them, they could be life-threatening things like respiratory depression, shallow breathing,” Ledoux said. “It could also cause things like vomiting and things that are much more life-threatening than just a mild intoxication.”

Kesha Spruill hopes a situation like this is prevented in the future by adding extra precautions to keep schools safer.

WITN is told that this case remains an open investigation.

No other information is available yet due to the ages of those involved.

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