A study made on the information From the National Poison Data System concluded that child exposure to cannabis is drastically increasing. The explanation might be the spread of Marijuana legalization laws through U.S. states.
The main problem is child exposure increase due to more and more food and beverage products containing marijuana. Children can find the Cannabis made sweets if they are not supervised and are thus of course tempted to either eat or drink them
Many new cases have appeared in which children many under the age of 3 have unknowingly consumed drug related products. The study also find that the numbers are increasing. Henry spiller, a co-author of the study and a director for the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus Ohio, says that these are attractive to children that are at the age of exploring their environment.
The study researchers urge both the government and the parents to be informed about the possibility of exposure and to take necessary steps in order to avoid this kind of situations as much as possible.
The good news is that although the number of cases has risen it is still generally low, with only 6 children per 1 million exposed. And probably the best news is that there were no serious life-endangering situations, reported yet.
Marijuana has no lethal side effects. And it is still debatable if the cannabis plant in unaltered natural form can cause addiction.
However the ingestion of marijuana related products can become very dangerous if the quantities of sweets eaten are great. Normally the consumption of cannabis chocolate for example has low side effects like nausea or panic symptoms even among kids younger than 3 years old.
The main problem is education, since legalization means parents are less likely to hide a stash of marijuana related products , the risk of children tampering or ingesting it is greatly increased.
The study finds that the rate of cases reported to the Poison Control Centers, in the U.S. has increased by as much as 16 % per year. Spikes of reported cases came soon after legalization in certain states.
The rate of Child Exposure to Cannabis is increased in states that did not legalize marijuana as well, but at a slower rate of about 4-5 procent.
marijuana.com