8-year-old hospitalized after ingesting LSD found in mom’s freezer, Washington cops say

An 8-year-old boy was hospitalized after he ingested LSD that he found in his mom’s freezer, Washington police said.

Deputies with the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office responded to the call in Port Angeles Tuesday evening, according to a news release from the sheriff. Paramedics immediately took the boy, who “was conscious but [unresponsive],” to Olympic Medical Center before he was flown to a Tacoma area hospital, the release said.

The mother said she found her son lying in the living room “tripping” after [he] had told her minutes earlier that he was “feeling funny, according to the news release. She remembered that she had been keeping LSD, also known as acid, in her freezer for about a year, thinking it would keep her son from finding it.

But when she looked inside, it was gone and she immediately called 911.

LSD “is a popular psychedelic drug” that produces hallucinations and alters the “perception of things such [as] sound and time,” according to the American Addiction Centers. An “acid trip” can last for up to 12 hours and “there is substantial evidence showing more detrimental, long-term effects associated with the use of LSD.”

LSD is classfied as a Schedule I drug and in Washington state, possession of such substances is considered a Class B felony with a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment or a fine up to $25,000, according to the revised state code.

It’s unclear if the mother was cited for illegal drug possession and the sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a request for more information from McClatchy News.

Authorities notified Child Protective Services and said the investigation is ongoing.

This story was originally published April 21, 2021 at 12:32 PM with the headline "8-year-old hospitalized after ingesting LSD found in mom’s freezer, Washington cops say."