Baby, 1, Hospitalized After Eating Marijuana Gummy In Secaucus Motel

SECAUCUS, NJ — A one-year-old boy had to be hospitalized Thursday after the child accidentally ate his mother's marijuana gummy.

This happened at a motel in Secaucus, confirmed Secaucus Mayor Mike Gonnelli.

Gonnelli said he knew the incident happened, but he had few details. He did say the baby boy is "doing much better" Friday morning.

"A one-year-old was found to have ingested a cannabis edible gummy while within the hotel room on Jan. 18," said Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller.

The baby boy was taken first to Hudson Regional Hospital in Secaucus and then transferred to Hackensack University Medical Center.

"As of (Friday), the child is alert and responsive," said the police chief.

He said the boy's mother, a 17-year-old teen girl and her adult boyfriend, were both arrested and both charged with endangering the welfare of a child. They were released on a summons, pending their appearance in court.

NJ.com/The Jersey Journal reported this happened while the mother and boyfriend were staying at the Extended Stay America on Meadowlands Parkway. They also reported the baby boy lost consciousness, and that's why 911 was called.

As Patch reported in August, more and more children across New Jersey are accidentally eating their parents' edible marijuana:

For the fourth year in a row, the New Jersey Poison Control Center has seen an increase in calls of kids ingesting cannabis. Nearly all the incidents happened because adults left their marijuana gummies, candies, edibles or brownies lying out around the house, and children ate them.

In July of 2023, the NJ Poison Control Center fielded 30 calls about it in one month alone, in kids ranging from 1 to 12 years old. The majority of kids were under 5 years old.

Report: More NJ Children Are Accidentally Eating Marijuana Edibles (Aug. 30, 2023)

"In most cases when the children are brought in, they seem a little drowsy and out of it. They do look kind of high. Because they are much smaller and weigh less, the effects of the drug are much more significant," Dr. Diane Calello, executive director of the NJ Poison Control Center, was quoted saying in the article. "Mostly, the children are lethargic. But I have seen children hallucinating. It's very frightening. We have a responsibility as a state to pay attention to this."

She said in most cases the children are given fluids and were admitted to the hospital overnight to be monitored, just as a precaution. But she also recalled one incident where a three-year-old toddler girl was brought into an unnamed New Jersey ER. Shortly after arriving, the child had a seizure. Doctors learned she had consumed a large amount of pot cookies.