DETROIT (WWJ) — Detroit Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti is sounding the alarm about edible marijuana products in schools across the city after an incident sent multiple students to the hospital on Wednesday.
Seven students at Midtown Crockett High School consumed edibles and four were sent to the hospital, Vitti told WWJ Newsradio 950’s Jon Hewett Thursday.
Vitti did not disclose the ages of the students involved in the incident and it was not clear how the edibles made their way into the school. The conditions of the hospitalized students were not known.
Vitti said this is part of a larger problem that has been top of mind recently.
“I mean, I’m just being honest. Every week we have a situation where a child is consuming an edible at school. They get it from a friend, they’re experimenting,” Vitti said, noting he had written “a big letter” to parents about a year ago.
After that letter, Vitti said there was “increased awareness” about the problem.
“I think parents became more aware, some legislative conversation, but nothing really changed,” he said. “That’s what’s on my mind right now, that’s what I’m worried about. We just have to do a better job of educating our parents, our families and community in general.”
Vitti says he agrees it was the right choice when Michigan residents voted to legalize recreational marijuana in November 2018, “but at the same time, there has to be greater responsibility in securing it. if you’re gonna have it at home and educating young children who are consuming it and then being taken to the hospital.”
“That needs to stop,” Vitti said. “So, I’m just being honest, that’s probably what’s on my mind as most worried right now.”
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