Toddler Hospitalized After Eating Marijuana Cookies
By: Marissa Brassfield
Published: April 29, 2011

News of a Denver toddler hospitalized after eating marijuana cookies has gone viral. Authorities arrested 25-year-old mother Denitra Virgil for misdemeanor child abuse after hospital officials discovered that the 2 1/2-year-old boy had tested positive for THC. Denver's ABC 7 News reports that the boy had climbed a chair to retrieve the marijuana cookies from a freezer.
Although marijuana is legal in Colorado for medical use, Virgil's case calls attention to a startling local statistic: 61 children were treated in 2010 for consuming or smoking marijuana, up from just 25 in 2009. Rep. Cindy Acree is trying to pass a bill that would require marijuana food products to have childproof packaging and clear labels indicating their contents. "The scary thing about this stuff is it looks like breakfast items or dessert items or soda pop," said Sergeant Jim Gerhardt of the Colorado Drug Investigators Association. "The element of confusion for kids is tremendous."
Photo by Denver Police Department via ABC 7 News