The Surprising Reason Guests At One Wedding Got Sick From The Food
According to The New York Times, the guests at a Florida wedding that occurred on February 19 began to feel nauseous and "strange" shortly after consuming the reception's bread, olive oil dip, and Caesar salad.
Wedding guest Miranda Cady reportedly realized she was stoned and asked both the bride and the caterer if they had laced the food with cannabis. Both admitted it to her. The bride and caterer went on to be charged with violating anti-tampering laws, negligence, and "the delivery of marijuana." The groom was not arrested, as the affidavit explained that "[he stared back] "with a blank expression for a few moments before stuttering through a 'no'" when asked about the presence of THC in the food. However, in the incident report, the bride also denied drugging the food, per WESH.
As time went on, the woozy wedding turned to chaos. The BBC describes how one guest grew convinced that her family was hiding her son-in-law's death from her. Others were sent to hospital, where tests showed they had consumed THC. "I thought I was having a heart attack. My heart was racing and before I went to bed that night, I actually slept in my car right on-site," Cady told WESH.
Was it intentional?
Until a decision is reached concerning the guilt of the charged parties, the question remains about how intentional the lacing of wedding guests was. The police told The New York Times that "several of the 50 guests at the wedding reported that they felt high after eating the food at the reception." In other words, this unexpected intoxication didn't necessarily happen to the entire party.
This information opens up the possibility that this could be a case like that of Las Vegas restaurant Secret of Siam. In February, officials began to thoroughly investigate the restaurant after multiple customers were hospitalized due to the unintentional consumption of THC. News outlets worried that the restaurant was purposefully doping its customers.
Since then, however, KTNV reported that the police had discovered that the guilty ingredient was a curry powder that appears to have been tampered with before Secret of Siam used it in its food. They figured this out because all the complaints were given by customers who had curry. Similarly, while its certaintly likely that there was a plan to dope the wedding food — the affidavit states the bride "acted like [guest] Miranda Cady should be excited ... as if she were given a gift" — it's also possible that some sort of mishap occurred involving the dosage or food distribution. Weddings can be a place for debauchery, sure, but guests should at least know what they're getting themselves into.