Safety at Work
Los Angeles, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) – Three members of a British Airways flight crew were hospitalized this month after having “out of body experiences” from candy given to them by a passenger.
According to The Sun, a newspaper in London, the crew members were on a flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to Los Angeles. Upon landing, a passenger handed them gummies as they were debarking. When the crew ate the sweets, they said they experienced “out of body experiences” and had to be taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Crew members said it was not uncommon for passengers to give flight crew members candies and sweets after a flight.
“They were consumed in the crew bus after touchdown, and tired staff gratefully gobbled them up,” a source told the Sun. “Almost immediately, BA staff realized something was wrong.”
However, by the time the flight crew had reached their hotel, they reported feeling “out of control,” “panicked,” and “scared.” Flight crew members were taken in for treatment and discovered the gummies they had eaten were laced with up to 300 mg of THC, the compound found in cannabis.
“Some people might find this incident funny, but it is being treated very seriously by BA,” the source said, according to the Sun. “If an entire crew became incapacitated at 30,000 feet after ingesting deadly drugs, the consequences don’t bear thinking about.”
The crew members will not face disciplinary actions, officials said, as they were not aware that the gummies had been laced with THC.
“It is a godsend in this case, the sweets in question were not shared out among the crew until they had arrived in the US.” the source said.
BA officials said they are trying to find the person who supplied the crew with the gummies. Police said they may face several charges in connection with the case.
BA officials confirmed the account.
“A small number of our crew reported feeling unwell at their hotel and have since recovered. “We sent a replacement crew to operate the return flight and there was no impact on our customers.”
THC gummies and edibles have become increasingly popular, but many experts have raised concerns about the drug-laced sweets recently.
“Every time you use one of these products you really don’t have a great idea of the dosage of THC you’re getting,” University of Bath professor Chris Pudney told the Sun. “And in some cases, we even found it’s not THC at all – it’s actually a synthetic drug that we normally find in prisons called spice.”
According to GoodRX, the U.S. lack established guidelines on how much THC is safe to consume. The standard unit of measurement for research on THC is 5 mg, but that isn’t a recommendation on how much to take, the drug web site said.
Because everyone’s body responds to cannabis differently, researchers are continuing to study what a safe amount of THC may be. More research is needed to better understand both short- and long-term effects of cannabis.
According to Bender Insurance Solutions, if an employee brings THC-laced sweets or cookies to the workplace, there are several steps to take to protect the workplace.
While some states may allow marijuana use in either medicinal or recreational form, it is still illegal federally. Only four states, Idaho, Wyoming, Kansas and South Carolina, have not legalized marijuana in any form.
According to the National Drug-Free Workplace Alliance, when THC-laced food products, or edibles, are brought to the workplace, it poses significant consequences for small businesses, including health risks to employees who unknowingly consumer the products; workplace safety challenges, such as impaired judgement, reaction times or motor skills; and legal issues from violating workplace policies to creating liability issues or breaching state and federal laws.
If an employer determines edibles have been brought to the workplace, the NDWA recommends employers educate employees on the risk of consuming unknown or unregulated products; and monitor workplace health and safety for signs employees may be under the influence.
Other recommendations from risk management company Case IQ include removing the individual who distributed the edibles from any safety-sensitive or operational duties; securing any evidence including confiscating any remaining gummies and keeping them in a sealed container; ensuring any employee who consumed the gummies are safe and provide medical attention if necessary; ensure any employee under the influence does not drive or operate machinery, and notify the authorities, if necessary.
