Toddler finds lump of cannabis in KFC and sticks it in her mouth as mother changes her nappy

Manager offers her Fruit Shoot to rinse infant's mouth

KFC offers full apology and considering compensation



A mother is furious after her baby girl sucked a piece of cannabis she picked up in the nappy-changing area of a KFC restaurant.

Stacey Rush snatched the drug before Lily, her 17-month-old daughter, could swallow it. She complained, but all the manager did was offer a Fruit Shoot to wash out the infant's mouth.

'He said it happens all the time and there was nothing he could do,' said Miss Rush, a mother of two from Newbury, Berkshire.

'But if you knew someone was taking drugs in your toilet, you'd do something about it.'

Shocking discovery: The KFC on Wharf Road, Newbury, Berkshire, where Stacey Rush's baby daughter found the cannabis

Miss Rush, 24, said she was sickened to find that cannabis mixed with tobacco had been left in the baby changing area, and horrified after staff initially refused to say sorry.

She said: 'I didn't spot it but then I saw Lily had something in her mouth. When I realised it was cannabis I felt sick.

'It was all over the floor mixed with tobacco. What if she had swallowed it?

'There was no apology. All they did is offer a Fruit Shoot to wash the cannabis out of her mouth. I won't go there again.'

Cannabis users often mix the drug with tobacco before rolling it into long cigarettes, or 'spliffs'.

Secretive: Cannabis users often seek out private, secluded spots like public toilets and changing rooms to prepare their drug

Public toilets and changing rooms are frequently used as locations for users to prepare their cannabis cigarettes away from prying eyes.

Miss Rush, who also has a four-year-old son, had taken Lily into the KFC branch in Wharf Road, Newbury, just before lunchtime and taken the opportunity to change her nappy.

She said: 'The cannabis was lying about on the baby-changing platform and some had also fallen on to the floor.

DANGERS OF THE DRUG Research shows smoking marijuana can accelerate the onset of psychotic illness such as schizophrenia by up to three years.

Eighty-three studies involving 22,000 people were analysed.

It found people vulnerable to mental health problems were likely to suffer symptoms at a much younger age if they used the drug.

The findings confirmed that it accelerates the onset of full-blown mental illness, which makes it harder to treat successfully.

Dr Matthew Large and colleagues at the Prince of Wales Hospital, New South Wales, claimed 'overwhelming evidence' showed it triggered schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. This was perhaps through an interaction between genetic and environmental disorders or by disrupting brain development.

'Goodness knows who left it there - it's horrifying and sickening to think a mum had been in there rolling a joint while they changed their baby's nappy.

'I thought these fast-food restaurants sent people in all the time to check on the toilet areas and baby changing facilities to make sure they're kept clean.

'It doesn't say much for their standards if someone can wander into a baby changing area and smoke a joint without any of the staff noticing.

'If my baby had ingested some of this cannabis goodness knows what it would have done to her.'

A KFC spokesman said: 'We were shocked to hear of this incident, and have spoken with Miss Rush to apologise for her experience.

'We take hygiene very seriously in all of our stores, and our toilets are cleaned every half an hour.

'We are currently investigating the substance to determine what it was, and have reminded staff at our Newbury restaurant to be extra-vigilant in the future.'