Shortly after midnight on Saturday, 4 September police were contacted by ambulance staff who had been called to an address in the Great Horton area where an eight-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl were found seriously ill with poisoning type symptoms.
Both were taken to the hospital for treatment, with serious concerns for the condition of the younger child.
Further information established that the children had consumed cannabis ‘edibles’, which are sweets laced with THC – the psychoactive chemical in cannabis that causes intoxication.
Both children have since recovered and been released from the hospital. Enquiries are ongoing to establish how they came into possession of the drugs.
On Saturday afternoon, police were contacted by staff at Bradford Royal Infirmary reporting a 15-year-old boy from the Great Horton area who had been taken ill after consuming cannabis ‘edibles’ in a separate incident.
He also recovered from the symptoms, and enquiries are ongoing into how he came into possession of the drugs.
Superintendent Richard Padwell, of Bradford District, said: “These incidents are obviously a real cause for concern. Although the children involved have recovered after hospital treatment, there were initially genuine concerns for the youngest child that we could have been looking at a tragic outcome.
“These ‘edibles’ are professionally packaged like popular brands of sweets which can make them appear attractive to children, yet they often contain a very high dose of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, which means that people can feel very unwell very quickly”.
Anyone who has any information in relation to these or similar items in circulation in Bradford is asked to contact officers via 101 or call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
More news from Bradford
