2 Colo. students arrested for serving pot brownies

BOULDER, Colo.Two University of Colorado students accused of providing marijuana-laced brownies to unsuspecting classmates and a professor have been arrested and face several felony charges.

The Daily Camera reports 21-year-old Thomas Ricardo Cunningham and 19-year-old Mary Elizabeth Essa were arrested Saturday on suspicion of second-degree assault and inducing the consumption of controlled substances by fraudulent means, along with two conspiracy counts.

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CU Police spokesman Ryan Huff says officers were called Friday morning after a history professor complained of dizziness and losing consciousness. The professor, who was not identified, was hospitalized. Two students in the class who ate the brownies also were hospitalized and five others were sickened.

CBS affiliate KCNC in Denver reports the instructor and the students have all recovered.

Police say Cunningham and Essa baked the brownies and brought them to class as part of a "bring food day."

"Anybody who thinks this is cute, anybody who thinks that this was funny is going to face pretty severe sanctions, both criminally and potentially within the student conduct process," CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said, according to KCNC.

[rwtibbitts]

I was a student in that class, and though I wasn't in class Friday, I need to say a few things to the people who are calling them horrible things or saying that they should be locked up for a long time:

Thomas was a quiet student so I didn't know him very well, but Mary was one of the most intelligent, positive people in our class. You call them "degenerates of society" or "typical stoners", but you have absolutely no information to back that up. You're the worst kind of person if you judge someone without the qualifications to do so.

Yes, it was one of the stupidest "pranks" I've ever heard of, and yes, they should be legally responsible for their actions. But in reality, marijuana is almost harmless except for the panic that it caused my teacher and classmates. This is not worth ruining the lives of two young students.

[JV1970]

The only ones who are ruining their lives are the two students themselves. They're adults now and they have to be made to realize that. They have to learn that from now on they'll be held responsible for what they do. A time in prison and being expelled from school might be the price they have to pay to learn that lesson. What they did could have had very serious consequences.

[Bojax39]

NOT a good idea to spike somebody. I am for legalization of Cannabis but the choice to use it belongs to the individual, not some moron with a few buds and a box of brownie mix.

[AOCGUY]

displeased2 replies: It's another term for potluck. People do it throughout their entire lives for functions and gatherings. In college, I had a few classes where we end the semester with gatherings or socials, whether orgainized by the teacher or the students.

I know what potluck is, have done it a church socials, office parties, etc. But when I went to college we went to class, studied, and drank. (OK - maybe smoked a little too but we never had classroom parties. Do they exchange valentines now too? No wonder we are falling behinf the rest of the world in education.

[displeased2]

Yes, potlucks to celebrate the end of a semester are setting us back. Sigh... And if you're comparing a end-of-the-semester function to elementary school activities, then you really are struggling with this concept. I had a few classes that ended the semester with food functions, but that was uncommon. It's such a minor thing that's not worth the time to argue over. BTW, the reason(s) we're falling behind the rest of the world in education begins well before college.

[MaryD-V]

This is why I will never miss Colorado especially Boulder:

Everyone is a drug user, ivory-tower mentality, unable to cope with the real world, and have no lives at all to speak of.

[Bojax39]

We won't miss you either, cupcake.

[cpgrant3]

About 2 years ago, I had a similar reaction to a pot laced brownie. I was 67 years old then and had never smoked or ingested pot in my entire life. A lady friend of mine who sells the stuff made some pot brownies. I love brownies, so I tried one. Within minutes I lost my equilibrium. My head was spinning and I had difficulty standing up. I also bean halucinating, unable to tell which buildings across the street were real and which were not. I have never lost control like that before and never want to do that again. But this is something I did by choice and I knew what caused it. If my friend or anyone else had served me a pot product without my knowledge, I would have been alarmed by the reaction. I probably would have thought I was having a medical emergency of some kind. My lady friend would have become an ex-friend pretty quickly and I would have held her liable for any costs to me, such as a 911 call.

[rborger]

Within minutes? Sorry if you had reactions "within minutes", then it was mostly in your head, not due to the cannabis. It takes 30 minutes to an hour for cannabis in edible form to kick in. Non users should eat small amounts a little at a time. Edibles can be overwhelming though, and due to the long time it takes for them to kick in people can eat too much. But if you really felt anything within minutes, it was without question in your head. I've seen people who weren't cannabis users be told they were eating pot brownies when they really were not at all, and they start tripping themselves out thinking they are high. But within a few minutes with edibles is impossible.

[sphinx45x]

It is not surprising that some ppl had such a strong reaction to the pot brownies. if you have never smoked or ingested pot, and you were not informed of what you were ingesting, then of course the symptoms of being stoned would be scary and probably encourage a person to seek medical help. there is no need to blame it on a "bad stash" (and I am not sure what that even means - the weed was laced with something? Ppl usually don't lace weed with a stronger drug...)

And please stop dismissing the professor's reaction as simply "falling asleep." It is actually quite common for people to lose consciousness after ingesting pot, particularly if they have a heart problem. It increases your heart rate and reduces your blood pressure -- the combination is too much for some people.

[Joco692]

Haha if I drive through Colorado and see a brownie on the side of the road, I am going to think that there is a certain percentage that it could have marijuana in it and I am no professor. It is truly hilarious that people think Marijuana is like Heroin or Acid, Marijuana is like taking a Xanax, but your ten times more content and way less anxiety. Seriously Felonies, punishment doesn't seem to fit the crime. These kids are going to go in to penitentiary little jokester and come out unproductive/violent enemies of the state til they go back to prison on the taxpayers dime getting their 3 hots n a cot.

[AOCGUY]

Administering any intoxicant to an unsuspecting person is assault.

[Bojax39]

AOCGUY replies: "Administering any intoxicant to an unsuspecting person is assault."

Especially since there are certain diseases, (Myasthenia gravis springs to mind), which react badly or even fatally to muscle relaxants. Suddenly assault becomes manslaughter or worse.

[alimech42]

This is ridiculous! The "history professor complained of dizziness and losing consciousness"....Dizzy from pot, yes...lose consciousness? I doubt that...more likely fell asleep. Professor and students hospitalized? Very doubtful that pot was the reason....hysteria from learning they ate pot perhaps.

I have ingested pot unknowingly...in chocolate on a cracker....Yum! Experienced mild euphoria, mellowness, and my headache went away. My granddaughter told me that someone brought pot brownies to her school...no side affects reported. Marijuana added to food takes longer to enter the blood stream, is milder than smoking it and has my vote for medicinal uses. This whole story stinks!

[Forty-Four]

For 1. Perhaps the amount of marijuana in these brownies differed from the amount in the substances you ingested.

For 2. What affects one person one way may not affect another in the exact same manner.

That all being said, I am for this to be legalized; so long as it is regulated as much as alcohol or smoking. Instead of spending all of this money to fight it, the government can actually make money off of it

[Jonnyhunglo]

It is not milder. Smoking burnes much of the THC, ingesting is much purer.

I agree that there is a huge over reaction, but people that have no experience with it, cannot be blamed for ignorance of the effects.

[AOCGUY]

"Bring Food Day"

What is this grade school? What the heck is going on when college classes have bring food day?

[displeased2]

It's another term for potluck. People do it throughout their entire lives for functions and gatherings. In college, I had a few classes where we end the semester with gatherings or socials, whether orgainized by the teacher or the students.

[ticobird]

I would be interested to know if the two students were Marijuana supporters or adversaries. Almost everyone who reads this news story automatically assumes these students were childishly and comically showing support for Marijuana when it could be just as likely they are Marijuana non-supporters and were trying to create a news story to demonstrate their perception of the dangers of Marijuana. Personally, I'm inclined to believe the latter rather than the former until this story is fleshed out a little more by CBS or whoever is interested enough to get all of the facts.

[Jonnyhunglo]

Who was the second gunman on the grassy knoll?

[ticobird]

JONNYHUNGLO
I thought my comment might be misconstrued by the difficult wording but I didn't think it would paint my opinion with the light of paranoia. Truly, I am a free thinker and the last few unemployed years of my choice "retirement" have given me a lot of time to read and ascertain the facts about reported news. In the case of this article I simply feel the reader would be better served with more background about the offending students. A real reporter would/should not stop with an abbreviated write-up but rather strive to report the whole story. I really would be interested to know how these students chose to live their lives, e.g., arrest history, civic services, grades, friends, etc.