An elderly man and two women were sent to the hospital Saturday after eating brownies that contained marijuana at a memorial service for a friend in Huntington Beach, police said.

The three people -- both women are 71 and the man is 82 -- were hospitalized within an hour of each other with the same symptoms, including nausea, dizziness and inability to stand on their own, Lt. Russell Reinhart said.

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian contacted the Huntington Beach Police Department after the three patients were admitted.

"The guy who passed away used to eat marijuana brownies," Reinhart said. "Someone sent them out because he used to eat them, but no one knew what was in them, and they were sitting on a table and people were snacking on them and three people got sick."

The incident took place just one day after the U.S. Attorney's office launched a statewide raid of medical marijuana dispensaries and arrested some dispensary operators who say they are complying with state law, but are accused of operating like a business and collecting millions in profits.

The incident also highlights some of the challenges local law enforcement face when dealing with issues that arise from cultivation and distribution of marijuana for medical reasons. In 1996, voters passed Proposition 215, which made it legal for those with chronic pain and illness such as cancer to use the drug for medical reasons.


"There is a lot of desensitization by calling it medical marijuana," Reinhart said. "There are still problems with medical marijuana because it is a drug, so it can make people sick. There are also crimes associated with it. I'm not saying that there are no other drug problems, but marijuana is a drug and it does cause problems for law enforcement in the community."


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