Girl, 4, sent to hospital after eating marijuana chocolate bar

Halifax RCMP are investigating whether any charges should be laid after a four-year-old girl was sent to hospital by a marijuana edible.

Police began the investigation after the girl, who is from East Petpeswick on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore, ate what she thought was a regular chocolate bar Saturday.

"On Saturday afternoon, as we understand it, a gentleman was having his kids helping him to clean out his vehicle," said Cpl. Jennifer Clarke. 

"There were three young children, the four-year-old being the youngest. And I understand the four-year-old found what she thought was just a chocolate bar in the console of the vehicle. She ate 15 squares of the chocolate bar. Now the chocolate bar turned out to be an edible marijuana product."

The recommended dose of the edible was one square per day for an adult.

The girl was treated and released from hospital. The RCMP said the chocolate bar appeared to be commercially packaged, not homemade. 

"We do know that some edibles do look very, very tempting and look a lot like a regular candy or treat that a person might see," Clarke said.

The RCMP are reminding people that recreational marijuana is still illegal to possess and that even after legalization on Oct. 17, it will still be illegal to sell edibles. People who do possess edibles should keep them locked up away from children.

Clarke said it's difficult to predict whether there will be more cases of children accidentally ingesting cannabis following legalization. Some in the industry have said they expect the demand for edibles will spike after Oct. 17.