Weed Chronicles: Increasing Number Of NYC Students Stoned In School, CarMax Employee Caught With 3 Lbs Of Pot & More

New York City Teachers Confirm Students Are Coming To School High

More and more students in New York City are smoking or vaping cannabis even during classes, according to teachers who spoke to The New York Times.

What happened: In 2021, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed recreational marijuana into law, making the Empire State the 15th in the U.S. to legalize cannabis. Fast forward two years later and the state is dealing with numerous industry challenges among which are illegal pot shops, and now, apparently, students showing up to school stoned.

Currently, there so no specific data on marijuana usage among adolescents, but the data from the New York City Department of Education shows a 10% increase in the number of drug and alcohol-related offenses in 2023, versus 2019, writes the NY Times.

Several teachers confirmed that some students are even using vape pens during classes and that the bathrooms and stairwells often smell of weed.

"It really feels like this unstoppable tide that we're futilely trying to suppress," said America Billy who has been teaching at a public high school in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn for more than 10 years. Billy added that she sometimes has trouble figuring out why a student is lethargic – is it sleep deprivation, personal trouble or substance use?

Some blame the widespread availability of cannabis. Gale Brewer, a New York City council member noted the plethora of illicit shops. Last September there were less than a dozen vape shops in her district and by March that number rose to 64.

"We were all saying we need social workers, we need psychologists, we need mental health support in the schools," Brewer told The Times, adding that dealing with the growing number of illicit weed shops “was not on the list.”

11-Year-Old Malaysian Girl Admitted To Hospital After Allegedly Eating THC-Infused Cookies

A Malaysian girl in Ipoh was admitted to the hospital after eating cannabis-infused cookies.

What happened: An 11-year-old ate chocolate biscuits made by her father that are suspected to have been laced with marijuana, reported Channel News Asia.

“Investigations found that the victim had eaten biscuits suspected to be mixed with cannabis which caused her to experience shortness of breath, dizziness, and nausea. The victim was taken to Gerik Hospital and later referred to Taiping Hospital for examination and further treatment,” stated Perak police chief Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri.

Mohd Yusri added that the girl is now in stable condition and that a urine test to determine if she was positive for cannabis was yet to be done, as other treatments were prioritized to address her condition.

The girl’s father was arrested, and he tested positive for THC.

Mohd Yusri advised the public to take more precautions to avoid similar incidents.

CarMax Employee Nabbed Shipping 3 Pounds Of Marijuana To Work

A popular US-based vehicle retailer CarMax KMX has come under the public eye and once again not in a good way. This time the story involves one of its employees and three pounds of weed.

What happened: A box with about three pounds of cannabis was discovered in a parcel at a used car dealership. As per the report from Gastonia Police Department (GPD), the box was addressed to an employee at CarMax in Gastonia, North Carolina. 

A 39-year-old Michael Kenneth Williams of Elgin, South Carolina was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and possession with intent to sell or deliver.

On May 22, a store manager noticed that this specific package addressed to Williams had an unusual odor, informing the police about it. Officers opened the box that came from California and discovered more than three pounds of suspected marijuana. After seizing the alleged cannabis, the police re-sealed the box and waited for Williams to claim the package.

“[We] put some items in the box that weighed roughly three pounds, resealed the box, and waited for the suspect, Mr. Williams, to come to work to claim that package,” Rick Goodale with GPD told the Charlotte Observer. 

Williams was later released after posting a $10,000 bond. 

Shortly afterward, CarMax tried to remove its involvement in the case, stating that Williams wasn’t directly employed by them, rather he was just a contractor. “CarMax was founded on integrity and doing the right thing and we appreciate the quick response from the local police department,” the retailer stated.

Previously, CarMax was under investigation over the suspicion that lemons are being sold at its dealerships. What’s more, some customers also complained that the retailer was selling defective cars without notification before purchase.

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Photo: Benzinga edit with images by Sean Kong on Unsplash, Ildar Sagdejev on Wikimedia Commons, and RODNAE Productions on Pexels