Hodgenville Police Chief James Richardson wants students to be responsible and parents to be aware when it comes to the dangers of THC products.
“The biggest thing that we have found that parents have no idea about is most parents think that when you purchase a product at a local gas station it’s safe, it’s good, it’s regulated, and that is absolutely not the case,” Richardson said.
The Hodgenville Police Department last week investigated an incident at LaRue County High School in which a female student had an adverse reaction to a THC gummy she had purchased from a male student. Richardson said students often don’t know what they are getting into when they try a THC product.
“The biggest issue we have is we did a little bit of research on these gummies, and there are 20 milligrams of Delta-9 THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in each gummy,” Richardson said. “According to the research that we did, that;s about anywhere between a quarter to a half of a marijuana joint’s worth of THC in one gummy.”
Richardson compares the THC gummies to similarly-unregulated vape cartridges, which have also caused issues in schools. The chief says it falls to parents to protect their kids if regulators will not step up.
“Legislation’s going to have to close that loophole, but until they do and they get some kind of regulation we want parents to know exactly what it is their kids are ingesting, and that’s the mission right now,” Richardson said. “Delta-9 THC, Delta-8 THC, whatever it is, if it can get your kids high it’s probably not good for them.”
Richardson says the HPD, along with other law enforcement agencies, will continue to prosecute anybody that supplies children with impairing substances. The investigation into last week’s incident led to the arrest of Daniel Roberts II, who the HPD says provided the gummy to the student who then sold it.
“Even under the Farm Bill, anybody under the age of I think 21 can’t have those substances anyway, for sure nobody under the age of 18, so that person was charged with unlawful transaction with a minor, and we are pursuing charges of trafficking on the juvenile that actually sold at the school,” Richardson said.
The chief also has a message for students that put other students at risk.
“If you are a student, and you are a drug dealer, we’re going to prosecute you, too,” Richardson said.
Parents with questions can contact the HPD at 270-491-5357.
