Colorado, is known for its mountain resorts, but hotel employees are receiving additional training following accidental marijuana overdoses among employees and their families.
According to Summit Daily, departing guests often leave unused food and beverages as tips for housekeeping staff at hotels in Breckenridge. However, with the legalization of marijuana–and marijuana-infused foods–in Colorado, some guests are leaving marijuana edibles behind.
Oftentimes, marijuana-infused food is packaged similarly to popular snacks and candy bars, meaning hotel staff may not realize what they are eating contains marijuana until they begin feeling the effects of the drug.
“The edibles-as-tips cases tend to follow a pattern: A hotel employee finds the leftover edibles in an empty guest room and eats them like any other sweets. But recreational products contain up to 100 milligrams of THC, which is roughly the potency of 64 joints made with pre-legalization marijuana, [authorities say]. Without knowing the dosage — first-time users shouldn’t eat more than 5 to 10 milligrams at a time — the employee can take upwards of 10 times the recommended amount of THC.”
According to The Aspen Times, a seven-year-old girl was taken to the hospital last summer after eating marijuana-laced candy her mother brought home from work at an area hotel.
Earlier this week an explosion occurred at an Arizona apartment complex. Witnesses indicated one of the people involved in the explosion was attempting to extract hash oil from marijuana using flammable chemicals–a trend we have written about before.
Stories like these and others from Colorado and elsewhere around the country underscore why so many citizens are leery of efforts to make marijuana more available in our communities.
