Gummy Bears Send 14 Chicago-Area High School Students To Hospital

The candies may have contained marijuana, police say.
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These were not your average gummy bears.

Students at a suburban high school in the Chicago area were hospitalized on Tuesday after eating gummy bears that might have been laced with marijuana, CBS News’ local WBBM station reported.

Investigators have not yet confirmed if the candies were tampered with or which substances might have been added, but Naperville North High School students reportedly told authorities the candies contained marijuana.

Edward Hospital doctors treated 12 of the 14 students after they experienced symptoms including increased heart rate, dizziness and dry mouth from consuming the possibly tainted candies, Naperville School District 203 wrote on its Facebook page Tuesday night.

“Each student had varying degrees of discomfort and subsequent treatment,” the district wrote. All students who were treated were eventually released from the hospital.

One Facebook user commented on the police department’s post wondering if the gummy bears consumed were the notorious Haribo sugar-free ones, which online reviewers have complained made them feel ill. But Naperville School District 203’s post suggested otherwise.

The school district urged parents to talk with their children about making healthy choices and seeking out school and community resources available to support the wellbeing of students.

Clarification: Headlines for this article have been amended to reflect that Naperville, where the school is located, is not within Chicago city limits. 

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Before You Go

Scary-Long Halloween Candy Ingredients Lists
Kitkat(01 of07)
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The crispy treat has 15 ingredients, including PGPR, a cost-saving chocolate emulsifier often used instead of cocoa butter. Sugar, wheat flour, nonfat milk, cocoa butter, chocolate, palm kernel oil, lactose, milk fat, soy lecithin, PGPR, yeast, vanillin, artificial flavor, salt, sodium bicarbonate (credit:larryosan/Flickr)
Milky Way(02 of07)
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This chocolate sweet also has 15 ingredients: Sugar, cocoa butter, skim milk, chocolate, lactose, milk fat, soy lecithin, artificial flavor, corn syrup, hydrogenated palm kernel oil and/or palm oil, cocoa powder processed with alkali, malted barley, salt, egg whites (credit:Amazon)
Nerds(03 of07)
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The majority of the 17 ingredients in Wonka Nerds are artificial colors and sugar by other names. Dextrose, sugar, malic acid, corn syrup, artificial flavors, carnauba wax, carmine color, blue 1, blue 1 lake, blue 2, blue 2 lake, red 40, red 40 lake, yellow 5, yellow 5 lake, yellow 6, yellow 6 lake (credit:Special/Flickr)
Whoppers(04 of07)
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There are 17 ingredients in Whoppers, including a couple that are especially tricky to pronounce -- a big red flag. Sugar, corn syrup, partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil, whey, barley malt, wheat flour, milk, salt, sodium bicarbonate, cocoa, resinous glaze, sorbitan tristearate, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavor, calcium carbonate, tapioca dextrin (credit:JeepersMedia/Flickr)
Skittles(05 of07)
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Don't let the "apple juice from concentrate" fool you into thinking that the 19 ingredients in Skittles have some health value -- it's just a sneaky way to say "sugar." Sugar, corn syrup, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, apple juice from concentrate, citric acid, dextrin, modified corn starch, natural and artificial flavors, yellow 6 lake, red 40 lake, yellow 5 lake, blue 2 lake, yellow 5, red 40, yellow 6, blue 1 lake, blue 1, ascorbic acid (credit:p4nc0np4n/Flickr)
Butterfinger(06 of07)
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Among the 19 ingredients we counted on a Butterfinger label is TBHQ, a form of butane. Yes, as in lighter fluid. Corn syrup, sugar, ground roasted peanuts, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, cocoa, molasses, whey, confectioner's corn flakes, nonfat milk, salt, lactic acid esters, soy lecithin, soybean oil, cornstarch, artificial flavors, TBHQ, citric acid, yellow 5, red 40 (credit:dnguy3n/Flickr)
Twizzlers(07 of07)
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They look harmless enough, but Twizzlers Strawberry Twists contain 20 ingredients, including glycerin, which is also used in some soaps. Corn syrup, flour, niaicin, ferrous sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, sugar, cornstarch, palm oil, salt, artificial flavor, mono- and diglycerides, citric acid, potassium sorbate, red 40, mineral oil, soy lecithin, glycerin (credit:Jason Alley/Flickr)

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