Cannabis poisonings are rising across the US, particularly among children, according to data analysed by the New York Times.
The American newspaper examined data from the national Poison Centres in the US, as well as surveying regional centres and more than 200 doctors, reviewing court records and interviewing physicians and public health experts. The paper said that it identified “dozens of children across the country who had consumed cannabis products from stashes belonging to relatives or friends and were hospitalized with paranoia, vomiting or other symptoms of poisoning.”
The Times noted: “In most instances of cannabis exposure, the physical effects were not severe, according to the poison control data. But a growing number of poisonings have led to breathing problems or other life-threatening consequences. In 2009, just 10 such cases were reported to poison centers; last year, there were more than 620 — a vast majority of them children or teens. More than 100 required ventilators.”
Marijuana use in America has grown, with the drug now legal in much of the country either for medicinal or recreational use. The paper notes that the commercialisation of cannabis has also spread across the United States, meaning that maijuna edibles are now more readily available. The country has seen the number of cannabis-related incidents reported to poison control centres increase sharply – with data from America’s Poison Centres, as cited by the NYT, showing that cases have jumped from around 930 in 2009 to more than 22,000 last year.
Of those, more than 13,000 caused documented negative effects and were classified by the organisation as nonlethal poisonings.