A music festival at the Ohio Dreams venue turned into a nightmare Saturday when 24 people suffered bad reactions to candy laced with THC, police said.
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“They didn’t lose consciousness”, he said.
On Saturday, a man began tossing out bags of colorful sweets at around 11 am, according to Maj.
The music festival, EST (Everyone Stands Together) Fest, is a two-day festival at Ohio Dreams in Butler. The witness took pictures of Gross and gave them to security officers, who used them to identify Gross among the throngs of people dancing and partying at an event billed as “The Last Weekend On Earth”.
Emergency personnel from throughout the county rushed to Butler in response to a series of overdoses during a concert, Richland County Sheriff Steve Sheldon said. The story goes that someone, between 10 and 11 a.m. began distributing packets of colorful candy, labeled as “Prescribed Medibles” and “Nerd Bites”, referencing commercial brands.
Several Mansfield police officers and sheriff’s deputies were sent to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital to question overdose victims.
METRICH Commander Lt. Joe Petrycki told the Mansfield News Journal that “overdose” was too strong a word to describe the effects of the drug-laced candy. They only felt exhausted, among other unusual symptoms.
Law enforcement officials said Saturday the festival did a thorough search of each vehicle before letting people in.
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At least 20 festival goers have been admitted to a Mansfield hospital on Saturday for overdoses after ingesting a drug disguised as candy, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
