Two Colorado students are facing felony charges, after bringing pot-laced brownies to school, and feeding them to their classmates and to a teacher. 21-year-old Thomas Ricardo Cunningham and 19-year-old Mary Elizabeth Essa intended it to be a prank, however it got out of hand when the CU professor complained of dizziness and started blacking out.
As she lost consciousness several times, the UCPD was called in, and she was transported to a hospital. Authorities were alerted when a student fell ill, displaying the same "symptoms." Later that day, another student checked in the local hospital with an anxiety attack.
Brooks Rice, Cunningham's roommate, speaks out to defend him, explaining they only meant the incident to be a joke. They brought in the cookies for a "bring food day,"
9 News writes.
"[Cunningham] definitely was not, had no intent of hurting anybody," she says.
As Colorado is set to legalize the consumption of marijuana for adults over 21, Ryan Huff, spokesperson for University of Colorado Boulder Police Department, aims to clarify that tricking someone into ingesting THC is still against the law.
"Putting marijuana in a food product and providing it somebody without their knowledge has always been illegal, and that will continue to be illegal, even after Amendment 64," he states.
The pranksters face second degree assault charges, and counts of inducing consumption of a controlled substance by fraudulent means.
The University board is not taking the prank lightly. An investigation is being held on campus, to rule on the students' suspension or expulsion.
"This was just a stupid, irresponsible act," CU's spokesperson Bronson Hilliard adds.
"One can only imagine had she been in the car, had she been with her children in the car, when the drugs started to take effect, what could have been the outcome of this, and it's just a terrible, irresponsible and reckless act," professor Susan Kent notes, speaking about the well-being of her co-worker.
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