'He thought it would liven up the party': Young prankster laces a cake with marijuana at a family birthday celebration - sending five people to hospital
- Elderly couple hospitalised after they accidentally ate marijuana in a cake
- A prankster laced a birthday cake with the drug to 'liven up a family party'
- Five family members had to go to hospital following the prank gone wrong
- Side effects of marijuana include: confusion, high heart rate and anxiety
A prankster has landed an elderly couple in hospital after he laced a birthday cake with marijuana.
The joker, who has not been named, thought he'd 'liven up a family party' by sprinkling chunks of chocolate containing cannabis over the cake.
But the practical joke took a dangerous turn when members of the family started falling ill, in an incident that occurred on February 3 at a home in Melbourne.
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(File picture) The joker, who has not been named, thought he'd 'liven up a family party' by sprinkling chunks of chocolate containing cannabis over the cake
The substance, of which recreational use is illegal in Victoria, can cause a person to suffer many adverse side effects.
A person can experience increased heart rate, low blood pressure, anxiety and confusion almost immediately after consuming the drug.
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One family member known as Anne, not her real name, explained how the prank spiraled out of control.
'[It was a] family lunch, everyone's having a lovely time and cake was passed around at dessert with fruit and cream and some nice little chocolate chunks sprinkled all over it,' the woman in her fifties told 3AW Radio.
(File picture) A person can experience increased heart rate, low blood pressure, anxiety and confusion almost immediately after consuming cannabis (pictured)
'Turns out that the chocolate chunks contained marijuana. So this was a prank by one of the family members, thought that he'd liven up the family birthday party,' she added.
But within an hour Anne began suffering from throat swelling and dizziness, and four other family members also started showing concerning side effects.
'Within three hours myself and four other family members were hospitalised with overdose and I was treated for anaphylaxis with adrenaline,' she said.
It transpired that Anne was allergic to cannabis which caused her to have 'severe' side effects for three days.
Anne's elderly parents, who are believed to be in their eighties, also consumed the cake and had to spend the night in hospital.
One of the aged couple suffered from 'vomiting' and the other had a 'high heart rate'.
Initially the family were 'terrified' as to what was happening to them.
But they soon understood their illness' was a consequence of the cannabis consumption when the prankster eventually owned up.
Anne said the joker had been dealt with, but the family had not involved the police.
The joker, who is in his late twenties, allegedly got the marijuana-laced chocolate from a mate 'who gets it in the US'.
Cannabis is classed as a drug of dependence and, unless medically prescribed, it's illegal to have or to use.
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