WASHINGTON — A noxious mix of medicine and candy sickened six children at a Silver Spring middle school Friday morning where emergency response caused “shelter in place” protocols to be initiated.
A Montgomery County police spokesman said the children ingested a mixture of Sprite, NyQuil and Jolly Ranchers candy at Francis Scott Key Middle School about 10 a.m. A preliminary breath test conducted by a police school resource officer came back negative for alcohol, Officer Rick Goodale said.
The students were taken to a hospital by ambulance. There’s no word about their current conditions, but they are expected to survive.
The children had trouble breathing after drinking the mixture, said Montgomery County Public Schools spokesman Derek Turner. That’s when the school nurse called 911.
“At 10:30 a.m., we entered into a shelter in place to ensure medical personnel could easily access the school,” Principal Dr. Yolanda Stanislaus said in a recorded message sent to parents shortly after the incident. That protocol was lifted at 11:25 a.m.
As for whether the children will face disciplinary action, Turner says cases like this are handled individually, depending on circumstances.
The mixture the children are said to have created included the over-the-counter cold medicine NyQuil. The concoction is known as “Purple Drank” when it includes a prescription cold medication with cpromethazine (an antihistamine) and codeine.
The mixture has a sedative affect and can cause euphoria and dissociation from one’s body, according to the drug rehabilitation group Narconon.
Rapper Lil Wayne talks and raps about using the drink, according to the Narconon website. It adds at least three hip-hop rappers or producers have died from abusing Purple Drank.
Listen to the full recorded message Stanislaus sent to parents:
