Over a dozen children so far this year, primarily in the Karlovy Vary region, have ended up in hospital after consuming jelly sweets containing the psychoactive substance HHC. The Ministry of Health now wants to push for an outright ban.
In January, National anti-drug coordinator Jindřich Vobořil warned in a press release of new sweets and confectionary products containing the new semi-synthetic cannabinoid substance HHC being marketed to children. This substance, which has effects comparable to THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, is legally available to children in Czechia and can be bought from street vending machines in the form of candy.
A week later, a spokesperson for the Karlovy Vary Region police force revealed that they were investigating the case of five children – two middle-schoolers and three elementary school students – who had been admitted to hospital after eating sweets containing HHC.
Markéta Singerová from Ostrov Hospital in the Karlovy Vary region says that the number of cases has increased dramatically this year.
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Authors: Anna Fodor, Andrea Strohmaierová, Tomáš Pancíř, Source:Český rozhlas