Westmoreland County vape shop owners, employees accused of selling drugs to high school students
MURRYSVILLE, Pa. (KDKA) -- A year-long investigation into a business selling vape and THC pens to high school students ended with the business owners and their employees facing charges.
That year-long investigation in this vape shop here in Westmoreland County uncovered startling information. One local ambulance company said it responded to at least a dozen THC overdoses of kids ages 12 to 16 years old, many who needed treatment at the hospital, within the last year.
"I think this is a substantial issue that's affecting our children these days," said Dr. Joseph Aracri, the assistant chair of pediatrics for Allegheny Health Network.
It's easier and more common than most parents think: kids having access to illegal drugs.
In this instance, the Westmoreland County district attorney said teens were able to walk right into PA Vapor on Route 22 in Murrysville and get their hands on a litany of illegal drugs including marijuana, delta-8 and delta-9 THC products and mushroom-infused chocolate bars containing psilocyn.
The two owners of the vape shop, Jeffrey Higgins and Eric Parco, two former employees -- Raelynn Miller and Isaiah Priches -- and current employee Daniel McKenzie were all charged.
"They have so much more access to information and to these medications and these drugs than any other population or generation before," Aracri said.
Aracri says times are different and kids can even get illegal drugs in the mail. Just on Tuesday, three students at Pittsburgh Obama High School got sick after ingesting an "unknown edible candy," and were taken to the hospital.
"All kids experiment in adolescence but you have to make sure that that one experiment is not going to kill them," Aracri said.
Aracri says if your child has glazed-over eyes, slurred speech, difficulty breathing, sweating, irritability and forgetfulness, those could all be signs they may have ingested something.
"If you think they have possibly overdosed or ingested something that they shouldn't have, just take them immediately to the emergency room or call the Poison Control Center," Aracri said.
Aracri says before it even gets to that point, parents should have a conversation with their child about the dangers of taking an unknown substance.
Meanwhile, all five people charged were arraigned Tuesday and posted bail. They're due back in court next month for preliminary hearings.