11-year-old New York boy overdoses on weed gummies at a Super Bowl party

Subway

exclusive

By means of Georgia Worrell

February 18, 2023 | 9:49 am

An 11-year-old boy from Staten Island was hospitalized after swallowing THC gummies he mistook for candy at a Super Bowl party — and now his mom is urging the mayor to do something to prevent possible tragedies with foods to avoid.

Veronica Gill noticed her son, Ryan, was “acting really strange” after coming home from a gathering at their friends’ house in New Springville, she told The Post.

“My son sat on the couch with me and he began to sin. At first I thought he was faking because he opened his eyes wide and laughed. Then he would sink back in for a minute, then open his eyes wide and laugh,” she said.

Gill became concerned when the youngster’s laughter suddenly turned to cries for help and his body began to shake.

“He started saying, ‘Mom, I feel really weird.’ He heard voices. Then he started shaking…I thought he might be having a seizure.”

In a panic, the mother-of-three rushed Ryan to an emergency room, where his rapid heartbeat prompted doctors to call an ambulance to take him to the emergency room at Richmond University Medical Center.

After Ryan underwent a series of tests, including a CAT scan – “God forbid, they had to rule out a brain tumor,” said Gill – a urine test revealed he had ingested a significant amount of THC in the past few hours.

“I was literally in shock. I couldn’t believe it,’ Gill recalls.

Gill was further disturbed to discover that her son had brought home the weed-infused gummies from a candy drawer at the “tight” party throwers.

“When [my friend] went back to check the drawer after we told her what happened, she realized there was THC in the candy. She called us crying hysterically,” Gill said.

Gill wasn’t mad at her friend, who told her, “I have no idea how the hell this got into my house.”

Instead, she said packaging for edibles, like her son’s, should resemble that of regular candy brands, and have only minor THC warnings for buyers to miss.

“A lot of people have said, ‘How did she not know [they were edibles]?’ And I tell them, “I wouldn’t know.” People who use that stuff know it. People who don’t don’t even think to look [for THC warnings]’ said Jill.

“I really don’t blame the homeowner at all, because they too are victims of this packaging.”

Ryan stayed in the hospital overnight, resting and drinking fluids as the symptoms subsided, according to his mother.

“Thank God he’s okay,” she said.

The number of calls to poison control centers for abuse and misuse of cannabis products in Americans ages 6 to 18 has skyrocketed — from 510 cases in 2000 to 1,761 in 2020, according to a recent study published in Clinical Toxicology.

New York has only four licensed stores, but more than 1,400 illegal peddlers in New York City sell unregulated products, with little police involvement.

Gill pleaded with Mayor Adams to crack down on illegal cannabis sellers, especially those whose products are sold to children — something the mayor promised to do at a press conference at City Hall on Dec. 15.

“What if [the mayor] ensures that, if it is illegal [sellers] don’t have a warning sign on their packages, in big, black, bold letters, get a double fine? Just to try and protect the kids,” Gill said.