PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — A seventh grader who attends Oak Hammock K-8 school in Port St. Lucie has been suspended for six days.
She was one of five students that the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office said had to be hospitalized on Tuesday after they were believed to have ingested gummies containing THC.
"I feel like I shouldn't have been suspended for something that I didn't know I was taking," the student, who didn't want to be identified, said.
The child said a classmate offered her the candy, which she said was in the form of gummy worms, and that the package looked very similar to name-brand candy on the market.
Region St Lucie County
Sheriff: 10 students believed to have ingested gummies with THC
"When did you notice something weird was happening?" WPTV reporter Joel Lopez asked.
"I didn't feel right like I felt like I needed to go to sleep and eat more, and I just came back from lunch. I didn't need to eat. I just felt super tired," the student said. "Mostly all the kids in my third-period class were acting very weird and their eyes were very red."
The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office believes 10 students took the gummies, and the suspension is due to the district's zero-tolerance policy.
"My grades have been so good for so long, and it's going to be on my record. I feel terrible," the student said. "We didn't know that it was filled with marijuana. I'm at a loss for words."
WPTV contacted the school district about the suspension but did not hear back Thursday night.
"There's (nothing) that covers innocent kids if they didn't know they were being drugged," the suspended student's mother said. "She's not a drug user. She's a very good kid. She has very great grades."
She also didn't want to be identified but is upset and said her daughter is the victim and isn't allowed back at Oak Hammock K-8 school until Thursday.
"I would like to see legal action taken against that child for distribution of drugs on a school campus," the child's mother said.
She said she wants her daughter's suspension to be lifted and expunged from her record, and have the investigation focus on the students who were responsible, and how they obtained the THC candy.
The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office said they know the student who is responsible for handing out the gummies, and they're working with administrators to hold everyone who was involved accountable.