Why Customers Think A Las Vegas Restaurant Fed Them THC

Secret of Siam is a Thai restaurant that opened in Las Vegas in 2019. It managed to survive the travails that the coronavirus pandemic wrought on the restaurant industry. However, in recent weeks, strange things have been happening. On January 31, someone reported symptoms after eating at Secret of Siam. Weeks later, on February 10, a health inspection rated the restaurant with an "A." Yet, the day after, more sicknesses came to light.

Samantha Diaz, who has been a longtime happy patron, told WRAL, "I was like melting into my chair and I got all disoriented and heavy." Another customer, Gera Wade, recalled to the Las Vegas Review Journal, "I was so confused and slurring my words, so my roommates called an ambulance." When they arrived at the hospital, they saw others displaying a similar set of symptoms. Jennifer Kay Colacion, another customer, explained that she too went to hospital and tested positive for THC, which is the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana.

Since the news broke, others have been flooding the restaurant's Yelp page with reported stories of their own potential drugging — or possibly jumping on the bandwagon of people preemptively chastising the restaurant. Of course, any charge that a restaurant has laced its food with weed without their customers' consent is going to be investigated. 

As of writing, the investigation into whether Secret of Siam was cooking with marijuana is still ongoing. However, on February 16, 8NewsNow reported that police were seen at the closed down restaurant with paper bags. The Southern Nevada Health District has stated that Secret of Siam will require approval from them and other agencies before they can resume serving food.

Interestingly, since the news that Secret of Siam's food contained doses of THC that were in large enough to affect people with low tolerance, it has come out that the local health department was aware that something was happening. In documents that 13 Investigates acquired, it showed that the inspection that occurred on February 10 was due to complaints of "possible cannabis cross contamination." But the inspector could not verify the complaints, writing "I surveyed the spices in the food prep area and did not see any unusual spices or additives."

However, with at least 30 more people claiming a similar experience, a more thorough investigation is certainly needed.