Dad Charged With Giving Teen Daughter Marijuana Oil for Brownies for Students
Three high school students in Washington state became ill after eating homemade treats laced with hash oil baked by a fellow student, authorities said.
The incident occurred at Emerald Ridge High School in Tacoma on Tuesday when a 16-year-old student, who is not being identified, brought brownies and lemon bars made with marijuana extract to school to share with fellow students, said Brian Fox, executive director of communications for the Puyallup School District.
The three students were treated by the school nurse after they reported feeling sick, Fox said, noting that parents and paramedics were then contacted, but the students were not sent to the hospital.
The amount of oil used in the baked goods has not been calculated, which is cause for concern, said Dr. Allister Stone, medical director of emergency services for the Franciscan Health System in Tacoma. Stone did not treat the Emerald Ridge students.
"The fact that oil was used means that we don't know how much could have been in it," he said. Side effects from ingestion may include nausea, elevated heart rate, vomiting, anxiousness and mood changes.
"As a parent, encourage your children not to eat food that isn't packaged, or that you don't know the person or family who made it," Stone added.
The student responsible told investigators that her father knew that she would be making the THC-laced food to give out at school, and that he had extracted the oil from his own homegrown marijuana plants, authorities said.
The Pierce County Sheriff's Department served a search warrant at the student's home, and discovered 125 marijuana plants, along with marijuana oil extraction equipment.
The student's father, Michael Miller, 45, has been charged by the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office with reckless endangerment, unlawful delivery of a controlled substance to a person under the age of 18 and unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance. If found guilty, the standard range of prison sentence for these charges is 51 to 68 months, the prosecutor's office said.
Miller is currently being held on $35,000 bond.
His current court-appointed attorney of record is Aaron Talney from the Department of Assigned Counsel, but Miller must return to court with a privately-retained attorney on July 1, the prosecutor's office said.
Neither Talney nor Miller's family could be reached by ABC News for comment.
The teen has been charged with three counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance for giving the baked goods to her peers, and could face up to 30 days in juvenile detention, 12 months of community supervision, and 150 hours of community service for each offense, the prosecutor's office said.
"She was released to the custody of a family member today. She is on house-arrest pending a disposition in this case," said Heather Songer, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office.
School district officials did not tell ABC News what the specific disciplinary action the student faces from her school, but the Puyallup School District's policy states that in most cases a 90-day suspension is implemented, with the possibility of it being lessened after submitting to a drug and alcohol test and parental involvement.
Authorities said they are still investigating whether the students knew that the food contained marijuana extract before eating it, and what the motive was for the student who had prepared it.