School leaders, law enforcement target student THC use
By Molly Ann Howell
Managing Editor
According to a 2022 Oregon Health & Science University study, adolescent cannabis abuse in the U.S. has increased dramatically — by about 245% — since 2000. The study showed that the increase is in part due to the rise in popularity of edibles.
During the Jan. 27 Gallup-McKinley County School Board meeting, Assistant Superintendent K’Dawn Montano told the board that school administrators have caught more and more students bringing THC edibles to school.
McKinley County Sheriff James Maiorano III gave a presentation on THC products during the meeting and told the board a story of one girl who ate an entire bag of THC gummies in a school bathroom.
“I don’t know if she had any intention of consuming the entire bag of THC gummies, I think she was eating a sweet candy that looked like gummy bears and she ate them until there was none in the bag,” Maiorano said.
That girl was taken to a local hospital once the administration realized what had happened.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Maiorano started his presentation by showing off THC products that look like the average bag of chips or candy. From Cheetos and Doritos to Skittles and Sour Patch Kids, these products can look eerily similar to everyday items, with only the slightest differences. Maiorano said his deputies have found a majority of these products in the GMCS district.
The district’s personnel director Jacob Stokes voiced concern over what can happen when younger kids get a hold of these products.
“We do have an issue where if students are of a young enough age they might not know [the difference between a THC product and regular food], and that is very worrisome,” he said. “By the time they get to high school they have a better conception of what it is they’re consuming, but in the elementary schools they might be handed something thinking its candy, and it’s very unfortunate what follows.”
School Board President Christopher Mortensen voiced his concern about how and where students may be getting these products, and how they’re produced.
“If it’s some homemade thing, who knows what the heck is in it,” he said.
Superintendent Mike Hyatt told the board that most of the products school administrators see are produced with high quality in mind. Large producers reportedly spend a lot of money to target young students.
Maiorano explained that oftentimes the only way to tell if a product is a THC edible is if it has a label with a triangle with a marijuana leaf inside it. He said that Skittles and other companies have already sued some edible companies for using their likeness. When THC companies use knock-off labels it is not technically approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but there isn’t a law telling companies they can’t sell the products.
The McKinley County Sheriff’s Office is working to build a class for parents, grandparents, and concerned members of the community. The class would teach adults what THC product labels look like.
Maiorano warned that a whole other problem occurs when students take the THC products out of their packaging.
“There’s no differentiating the difference between a THC gummy and a non-THC gummy if they’ve been removed from their packaging,” he said.
Maiorano also warned about the use of vapes. Nowadays, vapes can look like pens, highlighters, and even USB drives.
“It makes it difficult for parents, grandparents, and school administrators to determine what is supposed to be in [kids’] backpacks and what’s not supposed to be in their backpacks,” he said.
GMCS AND MCSO WORKING TOGETHER
Maiorano said he’s been working on a partnership with Hyatt to crack down on the use of THC products in GMCS schools.
At the beginning of the semester MCSO deputy Melanie Padilla and K-9 Officer Zelle began their patrol of GMCS and Bureau of Indian Education schools. Padilla is a certified D.A.R.E. instructor, and she plans to bring the classes back to GMCS fifth and sixth graders by the end of February.
But all this work, from the K-9 officer to the classes, costs money.
In an interview with the Sun, Maiorano said it costs about $5,000 to fund the D.A.R.E program. That comes out of the MCSO’s general fund.
During the Jan. 27 meeting, Maiorano mentioned that ever since cannabis became legal in New Mexico, there has been a 12% tax on the products sold. He wondered if, similar to how alcohol sale percentages go towards DWI-prevention classes and materials, if the cannabis tax could do something similar for McKinley County.
He said that he’s currently working with local representatives to attain this goal, but it’s not something that will be accomplished this legislative session. There are currently no bills to address this issue in the session.
