A 2-year-old boy in Licking County was rushed to a Columbus hospital and put on a ventilator after authorities say he drank liquid from a bong and later tested positive for THC. The scare has sparked a criminal case and a deeper look from Buckeye Lake police and Licking County prosecutors.
According to NBC4, deputies arrested Mercedese Knipe on March 31 and charged her with a felony count of tampering with evidence, one day after the boy was admitted to the hospital on March 30. Court documents reviewed by NBC4 say two adults showed a Buckeye Lake police detective messages in which Knipe asked them to remove smoking items from her home. Deputies say Knipe told them she had smoked marijuana from a bong and that the child could reach it. The sheriff’s office said the boy was placed on a ventilator and later tested positive for THC, and an arraignment in Licking County Common Pleas Court is scheduled.
Rising pediatric THC exposures
Health researchers say this case fits into a national pattern of young children accidentally getting into cannabis products. A study in the Journal of Medical Toxicology found that calls to U.S. poison centers about delta-8 and other synthetic THC products spiked from 2021 to 2022, with young children making up a large share of those cases and many needing hospital care. Pediatric experts caution that liquid and edible products can be especially risky because they can look and taste like regular food or drinks.
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