The number of young children eating marijuana-laced candy has soared in five years and many have been hospitalized, according to the latest study warning of America’s legal weed experiment.
Between 2017 and 2021, US poison control centers saw a 14-fold increase in calls about teenagers getting their hands on edible marijuana, according to a study in Tuesday’s Pediatrics journal.
While many of the children had only mild symptoms, such as excessive sleepiness, researchers said nearly a quarter ended up in the hospital, warning of the emergence of a new household safety hazard.
The eight-page paper comes as more states allow recreational snacking and safety advocates warn against colorful packaging for so-called “edibles” that appeal to children.
The National Poison Data System (NPDS), which collects data for the 55 US poison centers, has seen cases of minors consuming edible marijuana increase to more than 3,000 cases a year
“Accidental exposure to marijuana among young children is increasing rapidly,” the researchers warned
“These exposures can cause significant toxicity and are responsible for increasing hospital admissions.”
Dr. Marit Tweet, a medical toxicologist at the Southern Illinois School of Medicine, and her colleagues analyzed reports from the National Poison Data System, which includes the nation’s 55 regional poison control centers.
In 2017, there were only 207 cases of preschoolers eating junk food in the US. By 2021, there would have been more than 3,000, Tweet said.
From more than 7,000 reports, the researchers were able to track the results of almost 5,000 cases. They found that nearly 600 children, or about 8 percent, were admitted to intensive care units, mostly with respiratory depression.
Nearly 15 percent were admitted to non-ICUs and more than a third were seen in the emergency room. Drowsiness, difficulty breathing, rapid heartbeat and vomiting were the most common symptoms. None of the incidents were fatal.
Teenagers are lured by brightly packaged candy-like products that make them more vulnerable to higher rates of addiction, psychosis and dropping out of school, researchers warn. Pictured: Child-friendly chewing gum packaging
Dr. Marit Tweet, a medical toxicologist at the Southern Illinois School of Medicine, sounded the alarm
More than half of the children were two- and three-year-old toddlers, researchers showed. More than 90 percent received the food at home.
Cases of children consuming pot products such as candy, chocolate and cookies coincide with more states allowing medical and recreational marijuana use. Currently, 37 states allow the drug for medical use and 21 states regulate recreational use by adults.
Tweet called for more parental vigilance and more legislation passed by several states to make pot products — often packaged to look like children’s candy and snacks — less appealing and less accessible to children.
“If it’s in the form of candy or cookies, people don’t think about it the way they think about household chemicals or anything else a child might get into,” Tweet told the AP.
“But people should actually see it as medicine.”
The results were not surprising, Dr. Brian Schultz, a pediatric emergency room physician at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore.
He previously worked at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, where he and his colleagues treated children who ate junk food “almost every day,” he told the AP.
Reports and hospitalizations increased more in the last two years of the study during the Covid-19 pandemic, when more children were at home and there were more opportunities to find treats, the tweet said.
Samples of edible marijuana are held for evaluation at a cannabis testing laboratory in California. The number of young children accidentally eating marijuana-infused treats has risen sharply in five years as weed became legal in more places in the U.S.
The study comes after voters in Maryland and Missouri approved measures to legalize marijuana for adults in November’s midterm elections, while voters in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota rejected similar measures.
With Maryland and Missouri, 21 states have legalized recreational marijuana for adults in the past decade — though it remains illegal under federal law.
Experts have warned about America’s rapid transition to legalized weed amid growing evidence that widespread availability is leading to increased use, especially among young people, along with addiction and mental health issues.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) annual survey last August found that the number of youth under 30 using marijuana will set a record by 2021, according to the agency’s director, Dr.
The $30 billion cannabis industry contends that ingesting the drug — whether smoked, vaporized, or as an edible — can help combat anxiety or depression, chronic pain, and even addiction.
The American Cannabis Council, a major lobbying group, says legalization has broad support, says weed is safe and can help addicts break their opioid and alcohol addictions.
But in states where weed is legal, many parents say their children have been sucked into a spiral of addiction.
America’s $30 billion legalized cannabis industry is causing an “explosion” of teenage users
Teenagers in states that have legalized marijuana use more and are drawn to brightly packaged candy-like products that make them more vulnerable to higher rates of addiction, psychosis and dropping out of school, researchers warn.
A DailyMail.com analysis of research focused on California, Massachusetts, Nevada and other states that have legalized recreational cannabis shows experts warn of a “potential explosion” in underage use – and that more youths are embracing it than in states where it is used. is illegal.
Renee Goodwin, a psychiatric epidemiologist and epidemiologist leading the research at Columbia University, says teenage cannabis use is increasing faster after legalization
They worry about poor oversight of a $30 billion company and warn against a free market that sells high-potency daytime snack products in cartoon-covered packaging that appeal to young people, even as tobacco and alcohol companies are not allowed to entice young people to use do not speak
Data from the 21 states that have legalized recreational cannabis over the past decade, as well as the 37 states that have legalized medicinal use, show that teenagers and young adults are more likely to use stronger products.
Not every teenager who eats a jar of gummy bears sees their life unravel. But they are more prone to addiction and dependence than adults, and higher availability and use mean more cases of anxiety, depression, psychosis and even suicide.
“Cannabis use is more common among youth and adults in states where recreational use of marijuana is legal,” Renee Goodwin, who led the Columbia University study, told DailyMail.com.
“Legalization has moved from a social justice issue to the other extreme of corporate commercialization without the same restrictions that tobacco and alcohol now have to follow.”
Mary Maas, 57, of Washington, which legalized marijuana in 2012, told DailyMail.com how her son Adam, 26, fell into a devastating addiction to super-potent marijuana that was worlds away from the “Woodstock weed” she became addicted. from the sixties.
In view of the potent oils, vapes, chats, potions and gummies sold in a growing number of dispensaries, as well as the occasional one living in tents under Seattle’s I-5 overpass, she calls on other states to listen to the teachings.
“You better watch out,” she said.
Adam Maas (26) with his family in Washington. Mother Mary, 57, describes how her ‘Straight A’ student became addicted to super-potent marijuana products and ended up delusional, unemployed and sleeping rough in Seattle
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
