A MI man has been arrested and charged with felony drug trafficking after more than two dozen concertgoers became ill after ingesting THC-laced sweets at a northeast OH rap festival.
Advertisement
The overdose victims Saturday were attending the EST FEST Music Festival in Butler, Zehner said. A Machine Gun Kelly concert was slated for this weekend as part of Everybody Stands Together Fest, the Last Weekend on Earth show. Richland County Sheriff’s Major Joe Masi said the camp owners and event promoters began urging people to turn the packets in and keep watch for anyone struggling with overdose symptoms. According to the New York Daily News, each piece of the “medibles” contained “very, very high dose of THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol)”, the mild-altering chemical in marijuana. Only one or two sweets would get a user high, but some people were eating whole packages, officials said.
A spokeswoman for OhioHealth hospital in Mansfield says 24 people were treated, including with the overdose antidote naloxone.
No one lost consciousness and everyone seems to be OK, Sheriff’s Capt. Donald Zehner said Saturday afternoon. They only felt exhausted, among other unusual symptoms. The arrivals had ended by early evening.
Fifteen synthetic cannabinoids are classified as Schedule I controlled substances.
There were plenty of conflicting reports about who was distributing the packets; there were also conflicts regarding the physical appearance of the culprit, with the questioned seemingly only agreeing in that the John Doe had a backpack, numerous tattoos and was wearing a black T-shirt and a gray baseball cap.
Advertisement
“We can’t speculate on how people got the drugs, we’ve heard many stories”, Zehner said. For the protection of AP and its licensors, content may not be copied, altered or redistributed in any form. This includes the preparation of derivative works of, or the incorporation of such content into other works. Please see our terms of service for more information.
