8 L.A. STUDENTS SICKENED AFTER EATING CHOCOLATE BAR + STUDENTS TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER EATING WHAT MAY HAVE BEEN DRUG-LACED TREAT

from the Contra Costa Times [LA Daily News/LA Newspaper Group] From wire service reports | http://bit.ly/craDSm

Posted: 11/04/2010 01:18:01 PM PDT - Eight students at George Washington Carver Middle School in South Los Angeles became ill today after sharing a chocolate bar, possibly containing an ingredient that elevated their blood pressure and heart rates, officials said.

Paramedics went to the school. at 4410 S. McKinley Ave. at 8:40 a.m. and took the students to a hospital for evaluation, and they were listed in good condition, said Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Early paramedic reports had indicated that marijuana brownies might have been involved, Scott said.

Later, Monica Carazo at the Los Angeles Unified School District said the students apparently ate "chocolate with some sort of drug" but it was unknown if it was marijuana. The kids, ages 11 to 13, had elevated heart rates and blood pressure, and upset stomachs, Carazo said.

The school is a charter school run by the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools campus (“The Mayor’s Partnership”) , which is managed in cooperation with the LAUSD, said Patrick Sinclair, of the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools organization.

Sinclair said a student told authorities that the chocolate had been bought at a "skate store," and had been shared with the other students. Authorities were trying to determine the ingredients in the chocolate, Sinclair said.

The student who brought the chocolate to school "purposely bought it at a a store and he knew what he bought," said principal Luz Catto to ABC7.

"I want to make sure parents know the children did not get sick because of anything they ate at our school cafeteria," she added.

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Students taken to hospital after eating what may have been drug-laced treat [Updated]

by Stephen Ceasar - LA Times/LA Now | http://lat.ms/9ypRfo

November 4, 2010 | 10:43 am -

Eight students at a south Los Angeles middle school fell ill Thursday after eating what may be drug-laced brownies, school officials said.

The eight students, who are between 11 and 13 years old, were taken to a hospital after eating the treats, which initially were thought to be laced with marijuana, said Patrick Sinclair, a spokesman for the Partnership of Los Angeles Schools, which oversees George Washington Carver Middle School.

One of the eight students is believed to have brought the brownies to school and it is unclear what drug they were laced with, Sinclair said.

[Updated at 11:45 a.m.: The student later told school officials that he bought a chocolate bar at a skate shop and shared it with fellow students.

The eighth-grade students were examined by a school nurse and found to have accelerated heart rates and elevated blood pressure, officials said. They were taken to a County-USC Medical Center, where they were said to be in good condition.] 

 

Photo: LAPD officers talk to school officials at Carver Middle School. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times