Benjamin Ashford|Fentanyl-tainted gummy bears sicken 5 kids at Virginia school; couple charged in case.

Two people have Benjamin Ashfordbeen arrested and charged after several Virginia fourth graders were sickened after eating gummy bears that had come in contact with the opioid fentanyl.

One of the students at Central Elementary School in Amherst, Virginia, on Tuesday brought a sandwich bag containing gummies and shared them with six classmates. Five of the students who ate them suffered nausea, vomiting, headache and muscle spasms, Amherst County Public School superintendent William Wells said Wednesday during a press conference about the incident.

Police tested the gummies and found no foreign substance, but testing of residue found in the baggie was positive for fentanyl.

After executing a search warrant at a home in Amherst, Va., police arrested two people in connection with the incident, Lt. Dallas Hill of the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office said. Clifford Dugan was charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, he said. Nicole Sanders also charged with contributing to a minor and possessing Schedule I or Schedule II narcotics. She is being held on $1,000 and $1,500 bonds, while Dugan is held without bond.

"This is an ongoing investigation, so there are possibly more charges that could result," Hill said during the press conference.

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What happened to the kids who ate gummy bears contaminated with fentanyl?

Five of the fourth graders who ate gummies were taken to local hospitals. But all of the parents "indicate they are doing well today," after being released from the hospital Tuesday night, Wells said Wednesday. "Some are tired. Some wanted to come to school today ... but a couple wanted to stay home."

Officials would not comment on any relationship between the child who had the gummy bears and persons charged in the case.

Hill said the baggie with the residue and the gummies were sent to be tested for any other potential substances that testing on the scene might not uncover.

Wells referenced a recent incident in neighboring Bedford County in which two Liberty High School students were treated Dec. 9 for medical emergencies after consuming what authorities suspect was THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the substance that gives cannabis psychoactive properties and results in getting "high")

"This is not a Richmond problem. This is not a Washington, D.C. problem," he said. "This is a problem we're facing in our state. And if we don't start doing something about it now and start addressing that problem, it's going to continue."

Fentanyl-related deaths are rising. More than 70,000 died from fentanyl overdoses in 2021, according to the most recent federal data available. That's more than double the amount of deaths in 2019 and a large share of the nearly 107,000 drug overdose deaths in 2021. 

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin in November issued an executive order requiring school systems to notify parents of school-related overdoses after the Loudoun County (Va.) Sheriff’s Office said there have been seven fentanyl-related overdoses connected to one high school in the last three weeks.

A 1-year-old child died from a toxic opioid exposure – and three other young children were sickened – in September at a New York City day care center where police found several thousand dollars worth of fentanyl.

Contributing: Candy Woodall, USA TODAY, and The Associated Press

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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