ST. LOUIS — Two teenagers being held at the St. Louis Juvenile Detention Center were taken to the hospital last weekend after they appeared to be "under the influence of substances," according to court officials. Now, 23-year-old Patrick Harris, the Child Youth Specialist accused of giving the THC gummies to the teens is out of a job. He now faces two felony counts of endangering the welfare of a child creating substantial risk.
St. Louis Circuit Court spokesman Joel Currier said St. Louis Family Court and St. Louis police are investigating after learning of the April 6 incident at the facility on Enright Avenue.
The teens were taken to a hospital for treatment on Saturday and were later returned to the center. Court officials immediately notified police, and an investigation is ongoing, Currier said. Harris started working at the jail last month.
"I don't know why an adult would provide a substance to a child period," said Nichole Dawsey with PreventEd.
The group just launched a campaign to help adults better understand the impact legal drugs, like marijuana, can have on children who can not get them legally.
"It looks like the typical effects of getting high accelerated so your heart rate increases pretty exponentially. You can get dizzy. You can get hallucinations. You can get nauseous ... young people can experience those symptoms at a greater rate than adults," she said.
The campaign, which hopes to go statewide, is called In the Weeds.
"Pardon the pun. We really want to dig in and have conversations about what it is, what it's not, and the confusion that's out there," Dawsey said.
That includes the concept of "greening out" -- as many young people call it.
"As a matter of fact we get that all the time, 'Well, I'm not going to die from it so it can't be that bad.' No, while you're not likely to die from a cannabis OD, an OD means putting too much in your system that your body starts rejecting it ... that can happen when you're taking an edible and you don't feel the affects so you take a little more {and} take a little more, and all of a sudden, it hits you like a brick wall," she said.
Prevent Ed is now working with youth groups to spread awareness. The organization created Parent Kits on how to talk to your children about weed. You can find out more here.
This is a developing situation. This article will be updated with the latest information as it is released.