PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Several students were sent to the hospital this week after a scare at a school. Police say they drank grape juice mixed with a possible opioid and the drink may have been brought by a student.
There was a heavy police presence at Crossroads Accelerated Academy on Westminster Avenue on Wednesday. They went to school after students drank a substance called “wonk”.
For parents, this can be scary.
What is this ? We didn’t know either. So we went to see a specialist.
Brian O’Neill from Recovery Centers of America says the drug is popular among young people.
“You have a group of kids who filled the drink with ketamine,” O’Neill said. “Which is a human and animal tranquilizer, sedative, and anesthetic when measured appropriately and they just put it in a drink, dissolve it, and run it around.”
The United States Drug Enforcement Administration refers to ketamine as a “dissociative anesthetic hallucinogen” that can be injected, smoked or mixed in drinks. It can also induce a state of sedation.
“The danger and the toxicity, the risk of death, the risk of extraordinary physical harm is irrelevant,” O’Neill said.
“People are wondering how did they get this,” Edwin Desamour said.
Desamour is the executive director of Lighthouse Community Center. A place that provides resources to underserved communities.
“And often people don’t want to talk about it,” Desamour said.
But Desmaour says parents need to talk to their kids about it and be aware of what they are doing online.
“Once they open that phone, whatever you think is on the street and you think your door is locked for is your home,” Desamour said.
He also advises keeping up to date with the words your children are using.
“If you hear them using that lingo and you don’t know what it is, investigate,” Desamour said. “Call your colleagues your family of other young people. What is it?”
He says an honest conversation can go a long way.
“It’s a strong community, but they deal with a lot of different things,” Desamour said. “It’s about giving the right support. The right love.”
The Lighthouse Community Center says it has nearly 2,000 people signed up for its various sports resources and programs across the community.
They only hope to continue their impact.