By Berkeley Lovelace Jr. -
NBC News
The number of young children who become ill from accidentally ingesting edible marijuana is increasing, warns a study published Tuesday in the specialized journal Pediatrics.
Calls to poison control centers about children five years of age or younger who consume edibles with THC or tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis, went from 207 in 2017 to 3,054 in 2021, representing a growth of 1,375% in four years, according to the investigation.
Edible marijuana samples are evaluated at a cannabis testing laboratory in Santa Ana, California, on August 22, 2018.Chris Carlson / AP
In 97% of cases, minors found edible marijuana at home.
The results are based on more than 7,000 pediatric cases reported to the country's National Poison Data System.
Dr. Antonia Nemanich, co-author of the study and assistant professor of Emergency Medicine and Toxicology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, points to the increased number of states that have legalized recreational marijuana in recent years as problems with this situation. and the COVID-19 pandemic, which left a large number of minors at home without classes.
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Edibles are often packaged to look like candy or cookies, and children, unaware of the risk involved, sometimes eat several at once, Nemanich explains.
"They don't know what it is (...) and they don't know when to stop," he says.
According to the investigation, slightly more than half of the complaints corresponded to children of two and three years, followed by those of four years (18%), one year (15%) and five years (13%).
Infants accounted for 1.9% of calls.
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Experts point out that ingesting too much edible marijuana can cause serious health problems in young children, including confusion, hallucinations, rapid heartbeat, and vomiting.
In severe cases, children may have trouble breathing or even go into a coma.
The severity usually depends on the size and age of the children and the amount of cannabis they have consumed.
“It can be really concerning for the doctors treating them,” Nemanich reiterates.
Nearly a quarter of the children were admitted to hospital, 8.1% of whom had to remain in intensive care, according to the study.
The investigation did not record any deaths.
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Dr. Sam Wang, an ER physician and pediatrician at Children's Hospital of Colorado, believes that the study reflects the reality that lives in his medical center.
Most of the cases at the Colorado hospital have been "fairly mild," he says, with children often experiencing drowsiness or loss of balance, though he has rarely seen children needing to be attached to ventilators to help them breathe or children who had gone into a coma.
Wang was not involved in the study.
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Similar cases have been seen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, according to Dr. Kevin Osterhoudt, medical director of the city's Children's Hospital poison control center.
“I think the pattern we're seeing is well represented by this study,” he says.
“ER doctors across the country have been recognizing what they believe to be a sharp increase in both young children and adolescents coming to ERs for THC poisoning,” she adds.
Some manufacturers have started increasing the THC dose in their edibles, says Osterhoudt, who was also not involved in the research.
This could further increase the number of children who get sick, she warns.
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A typical edible can contain about 100 milligrams of THC, he notes.
Adults usually start with a tenth of that amount.
In some states, especially where recreational marijuana is not legal and unregulated, products can contain up to 500 milligrams of THC, remember.
Wang calls for regulating the way marijuana manufacturers can advertise their products, and ensuring that the advertising does not attract children.
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Parents can protect their children by keeping groceries out of their sight and reach, whether it's behind closed doors or high up on shelves, Nemanich advises.
“There is no reason why people cannot enjoy these products,” he considers.
“We just want the kids to be safe.”
Osterhoudt goes one step further: "The safest thing for a parent of young children would be not to bring THC-containing edibles into their home."
