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Crime

German restaurant mistakenly serves hash cake at funeral

October 29, 2019

A widow and other mourners were taken to the hospital after being drugged from accidentally eating a hash cake. Police said the daughter of one of the restaurant workers made the cake, albeit for "a different occasion."

A picture showing a cannabis leaf and an open sign
Image: Imago/Zuma/R. Tivony

A funeral in northeastern Germany ended in a hospital trip for some after mourners were accidentally served a cake laced with hashish, police in the city of Rostock said on Tuesday.

According to authorities, a group of mourners who had just attended a burial gathered at a restaurant to have coffee and cake — a German afternoon tradition.

But after chowing down on the cake, 13 mourners — including the widow — suddenly reported feeling dizzy and nauseous.

According to authorities, one woman had to be taken via ambulance to the hospital, while the others sought medical treatment later in the day.

They then later reported the case at the police station and pressed charges, a spokesperson told news agency DPA.

The incident at the funeral took place in August, but police said they waited to report on it out of respect to the mourners.

Read more:5 facts about cannabis laws in Germany

Medicinal cannabis

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18-year-old baked cake 'for own use'

Authorities later determined that the drug-laced cake was brought in by a restaurant employee in charge of baked goods, who asked her 18-year-old daughter to make some cakes for the funeral.

The 18-year-old did, indeed, bake cakes for the funeral — but also baked a separate hash cake that the planned to consume herself or use on a different occasion.

The restaurant employee then accidentally took the hash cake from her freezer at home without discussing it first with her daughter.

The 18-year-old is now currently under investigation and faces 13 charges of negligence and bodily injury as well as disturbing a funeral and violating Germany's narcotics law.

Read more: Is hemp really a green miracle plant?

'Hash brownie' party busted in Darmstadt

Also on Tuesday, police in the city of Darmstadt said that several young people were taken to the hospital after over-indulging on "hash brownies" at a party.

Six people between the ages of 19 and 24 had to be treated at the hospital after apparently underestimating the strength of the substances baked into the brownies.

At least one of the party-goers consumed so many that he collapsed at the party, police said

rs/msh  (AP, dpa)

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