Cannabis poisoning in children DOUBLED after Massachusetts made medical marijuana legal, study reveals
- Laws legalizing medical marijuana went into effect in 2013 in Massachusetts
- The number of calls for cannabis poisoning in kids 19 and under doubled after, a University of Massachusetts Amherst study found
- Cannabis still accounted for a small proportion of total poison calls for kids
- Teenagers are using marijuana at about the same rate, but there are more poison control calls for them, suggesting they are surprised by the potency
The number of children ingesting and doubled in Massachusetts after the drug was legalized for medical use, a new study reveals.
Between 2009 and and 2016, a total of 218 calls were made to Massachusetts poison control centers for possible poisonings involving children and cannabis.
Once medical marijuana was legalized, in 2013, the number of calls over kids that had just been exposed to cannabis – as opposed to it and other drugs – increased by 140 percent, according to the University of Massachusetts Amherst study.
Although many have hailed the legalization of medical marijuana as a public health win, its wider availability means that its in closer reach of children and teens whose development can be hindered by the drug.
After medical marijuana was made legal in Massachusetts, more children got into adults’ legal stashes and twice as many calls were made to poison control centers for their exposures
Massachusetts is one of 33 US states where medical marijuana is now legal.
Some studies have indicated encouraging declines in opioid use and overdoses in the wake of medical legalization, and people with epilepsy and cancer now have access to cannabis’s benefits.
But it’s not all good news.
With the exception of its use to create certain seizure medications, medical marijuana is not intended for the use of children.
The drug’s effects on young, developing brains may have lasting effects on their cognition and schizophrenia risks.
Plus, the immediate physical and psychological effects of marijuana may make inexperienced children feel paranoid, nauseous and generally uncomfortable.
In Massachusetts, 59,288 people are registered for medical marijuana cards – and some of them are parents whose children may stumble onto or go looking for their weed or edibles.
By and large, according to the new study, these kids went looking for the drugs.
Only about a quarter of the exposures were described as ‘unintentional.’
And less than 20 percent of the calls were for children four or younger.
Most of the exposures were among teenagers.
Interestingly, rates of marijuana use have remained about the same for 15- to 19-year-olds since medical cannabis was made legal.
Lead study author Dr Jennifer Whitehill suspects that this indicates the older kids are simply surprised by just how potent medical marijuana is.
Better regulation and storage might keep kids from getting too high and ending up in hospitals.
‘While we’re pleased to see that the incidence is relatively low, we feel these cases are preventable, and the issue needs to be on the radar of policymakers and parents, particularly now that dispensaries are open for adult-use sales,’ Dr Whitehill says.
‘As states across the country enact more permissive marijuana policies, we need to do more to promote safe storage in households with children.’