Parents are being warned about the dangers of cannabis jellies, with experts saying the sweets can be ten times more potent than a joint.
Six children under the age of ten have ended up in Temple Street Hospital this year after accidentally eating the illegal sweets.
It comes as gardaí question two men after finding the edibles during a search of a flat in Dublin 8 yesterday.
'Cannabis Jellies' seized by Divisional Drugs Unit at Kevin Street Station during a search of a flat in the Dublin 8 area yesterday. Two males were arrested & detained at Kevin Street. As Halloween approaches Gardaí are again reminding the public of the dangers of these products. pic.twitter.com/wigOUTzAVx
— Garda Info (@gardainfo) October 21, 2021
The packages of the jellies are often designed to resemble popular brands
Pat O'Mahony from the Food Safety Authority says they're packaged to look like regular sweets.
He said: “There were six children under the age of 10 years of age, who were brought to the hospital in various conditions - from drowsy to comatose.
“All had gotten their hands, inadvertently, on sweets that looked and probably tasted good, but had THC at fairly high levels that would be problematic even for an adult.”
The HSE's Clinical Lead on Addiction Services, Dr Eamon Keenan, says they're seeing the edibles more in Ireland.
He observed: “It takes a while to kick in - much longer than, for example, if you were smoking cannabis.
“Overdose can happen because you ingest too many of the products. They’re not regulated, so you don’t know exactly what the content is.”
The FSAI has previously described the emergence of cannabis jellies as a “sinister attempt to sell narcotics in the form of sweets”.
The latest warnings about the sweets come ahead of Halloween.
