By Mark Woolsey

[The Cobb County Courier has a policy of withholding or redacting the name of suspects unless and until the person is convicted in a court of law or enters a plea of guilty. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty, and the internet has no effective way of removing reports of arrest if the person is exonerated. We do make exceptions in high-profile cases or charges against public officials where exoneration is likely to be as widely publicized as the initial arrest]

An Acworth woman is facing criminal charges after a youngster in her care ingested tegtrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Acworth police were called to WellStar Kennestone Hospital on Feb. 18 after learning that a 20-month-old girl was being treated for unusual lethargy.  Medical tests found THC in the child’s system. That led them to Laugh and Learn Daycare on Cobb Parkway, in Kennesaw, where they determined the toddler had ingested a THC product directly from a daycare worker’s pocket.

Authorities say a 24-year-old Acworth resident was charged Feb. 25  with misdemeanor reckless conduct and 2^nd-degree felony cruelty to children. The suspect has bonded out of the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.

The WebMD website says those possessing such THC products need to keep them out of the reach of children and that ingesting gummies, cookies and other THC-infused foods or drinks can make children very sick and possibly lead to hospitalization. Medical authorities say that a wide range of symptoms are possible including intoxication, slurred speech and trouble breathing and say that anyone suspecting a child has swallowed the substance should call a poison control hotline.