Virginia mom charged in death of 4-year-old son who consumed large amount of THC gummies
A Virginia mother faces felony murder and child neglect charges in the wake of her four-year-old son’s death, which occurred two days after eating a large amount of THC gummies, authorities say.
Tanner Clements was found unresponsive on May 6 and was taken to a hospital where he later died, news outlets reported. Toxicology results showed the child’s death was caused by delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol toxicity, resulting in extremely high levels of THC in his system and accidental death, documents state. THC is the compound that makes people high.
Clements’ mother, Dorothy Annette Clements, is being held without bond after her arrest on Wednesday, the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
Clements told police that one gummy containing CBD, which does not cause a high, was left in the jar when her son ate a part of it. But the empty jar of gummies seized by police contained THC.
The mother told WUSA-TV that she thought she had bought CBD gummies from a store in Fredericksburg. She also said her son suffered from a "cardiac episode" and reported that it was determined her son "had something odd with his heart."
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After noticing the eaten gummy, Clements said she called poison control and was assured her son would be OK, according to court documents.
The attending doctor reported that earlier medical attention could have prevented his death, according to detectives.
What is delta-8?
Delta-8 THC is a psychoactive substance produced naturally in the cannabis sativa plant. The Food and Drug Administration warned last year that products containing delta-8 THC “have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA for safe use in any context."
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The cannabis plant doesn't contain significant amounts of delta-8 so it is typically manufactured in concentrated amounts from hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD).
"They may be marketed in ways that put the public health at risk and should especially be kept out of reach of children and pets," the FDA says.
How are states regulating products like delta-8?
Some states have banned products like delta-8, while others, including Virginia, have grappled with fierce pushback from the hemp industry to regulate products with THC. Delta-8 manufacturers call the concerns unfounded and say they’re driven by marijuana businesses trying to protect their market share.
At least a dozen states have banned the hemp-derived drug, including Colorado, Montana, New York, and Oregon, which have legalized marijuana.
Virginia lawmakers have a state task force focused on how to rein in the sales of items with delta-8 for next year's session. Regulation was discussed in this year's legislative session but failed to reach a consensus.
How many adverse reactions to delta-8 have been reported?
The FDA received 104 reports of adverse events involving products containing delta-8 THC from from December 2020 to February 2022. National poison control centers received 2,362 cases of exposure to such products during the same period, including one pediatric case coded with an outcome of death, according to the FDA.
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Contributing: Assosicated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Virginia mom faces murder charge in son's THC gummy death
