BILLINGS - Two Billings West High School students were taken to the hospital and a third was sent home with a guardian after the students reportedly overdosed on a substance known as "Dab."
Billings police Lt. Matt Lennick said in a press release that school resource officers responded at about 8:21 a.m. Wednesday to a complaint of three 14-year-old male students overdosing after ingesting a substance.
Two of the students were transported by medical crews to the hospital for treatment and the third was released to a guardian, Lennick said. Their names and conditions were not released.
Billings Public Schools Superintendent Greg Upham is concerned and is calling on all parents to talk with their children.
“You need to understand what this level of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana), and what the legalization of marijuana is all about for our kids,” Upham said.
While police said three kids overdosed, Upham told MTN News that five students total were "under the influence" at the time.
The initial investigation shows the students had ingested Dab, which Lennick described in the press release as "a concentrated form of cannabis with a high level of THC."
"At this time, there is no indication that any other type of drugs were used or present during the incident," Lennick said.
West High freshman Khloe Schmidt said she was not surprised to learn students were using drugs but was surprised to learn that they overdosed.
"At the point where it's like normal to hear about it," Schmidt said, “it’s odd to hear that someone was overdosing on weed. I’m like, 'what?' That doesn’t really seem normal.”
The police department and the school district are working together, Lennick said, to investigate the distribution of Dabs, the press release states.
Upham said all students involved are doing "okay" and that what is important is “at the end of the day it’s about safety for our kids."
