Changes in unintentional cannabis exposures in children 6 months to 5 years reported to United States poison centers during the first nine months of the coronavirus-19 pandemic

Laudone, Thomas W; Leonard, James; Hines, Elizabeth Quaal; Seung, Hyunuk

doi:10.1080/15563650.2022.2064867

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Mirroring national data, our study found a sustained increase in children through 12 years of age testing positive for drugs after March 2020, particularly for cannabis and fentanyl . The increase of positive fentanyl tests may be associated with the increase of fentanyl use and availability in the US .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The increase of positive fentanyl tests may be associated with the increase of fentanyl use and availability in the US . The increase in cannabis ingestions is likely multifactorial and may include legalization policies, the effect of the pandemic, and product packaging and marketing, but more research is needed to understand this trend …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[48][49][50] The increase in cannabis ingestions is likely multifactorial and may include legalization policies, the effect of the pandemic, and product packaging and marketing, but more research is needed to understand this trend. [17][18][19]47,51,52 This study reinforced that drug ingestions requiring medical attention are not limited to older children where intent (eg, accidental vs self-harm) may be in question. Almost two-thirds of the children in our study were 6 years of age or younger.…”

Section: Oct-decmentioning

confidence: 91%

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Child Protection System Interactions for Children With Positive Urine Screens for Illicit Drugs

Rebbe,

Malicki,

Siddiqi

et al. 2024

JAMA Netw Open

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ImportanceYoung children are ingesting illicit drugs at increased rates, but it is unknown what the associated child protection system (CPS) responses are when a child tests positive.ObjectiveTo document the child protection system involvement and the characteristics of children who test positive for illicit substances.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis retrospective cross-sectional study linked medical discharge and child protection system administrative data. The setting was Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, a free-standing pediatric hospital in California. Participants included all emergency department and inpatient medical encounters involving children aged 12 years or younger with a positive urine drug test between 2016 and 2021. Statistical analysis was performed from February 2023 to January 2024.ExposureDrug type, including amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, fentanyl, opiates, and phencyclidine.Main Measures and OutcomesCPS responses associated with the medical encounter including reports, substantiations, case openings, and out-of-home placements.ResultsA total of 511 emergency department and inpatient medical encounters involving children had a positive drug test (262 [51.3%] were female; 309 [60.5%] were age 6 years or younger; fewer than 10 [&lt;3.0%] were American Indian or Alaska Native; 252 [49.3%] were Hispanic [any race], 20 [3.9%] were non-Hispanic Asian, 56 [11.0%] were non-Hispanic Black, 143 [28.0%] were non-Hispanic White, 36 [7.0%] had other or unknown race and ethnicity; 233 [43.6%] had a CPS report prior to the medical encounter). Following the positive screen, 244 (47.7%) were reported to child protection, and 61 (11.9%) were placed out-of-home within 30 days. Mean (SD) quarterly counts of encounters with positive drug tests doubled after the COVID-19 pandemic onset (32.9 [9.8]) compared with prior to the pandemic onset (16.5 [4.7]); for encounters positive for cannabis, mean (SD) quarterly counts were 3 times as high after the pandemic onset than prior (16.6 [4.7] vs 5.7 [2.9]). Encounters for children under age 1 were significantly more likely to have associated child protection reports (relative risk [RR], 2.91 [95% CI, 2.21-3.83]) and child protection case openings (RR, 1.71 [95% CI, 1.07-2.72]) than encounters involving older children.Conclusions and RelevanceIn this cross-sectional study of emergency department and inpatient medical encounters, less than half of children with positive urine drug screens were reported to CPS; out-of-home placements were uncommon. With increased encounters for positive drug tests, it is unclear what services these children and families are receiving.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Oct-decmentioning

confidence: 91%

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Child Protection System Interactions for Children With Positive Urine Screens for Illicit Drugs

Rebbe,

Malicki,

Siddiqi

et al. 2024

JAMA Netw Open

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“…The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to changes in work, school and lifestyles with widespread stay-at-home orders that may contribute to increased cannabis exposure during legalization, due to increased availability of cannabis products in homes. Laudone et al [28] found significantly increased unintentional cannabis exposure in children aged 6 months to 5 years, reported to US poison centers, during the initial 9-month COVID-19 stay-at-home orders (58.4%, relative to 3.1% per month in the 3 years before the pandemic). In fact, the American College of Medical Toxicology released recommendations on preventing pediatric cannabis exposure in April 2019 with regards to packaging and labelling, home storage and home cannabis use [29].…”

Section: Pediatric Ingestionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of cannabis legalization on the use of cannabis and other substances

Assanangkornchai

Kalayasiri

Ratta‐apha

et al. 2023

Current Opinion in Psychiatry

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Purpose of reviewAs more jurisdictions legalize cannabis for non-medical use, the evidence on how legalization policies affect cannabis use and the use of other substances remains inconclusive and contradictory. This review aims to summarize recent research findings on the impact of recreational cannabis legalization (RCL) on cannabis and other substance use among different population groups, such as youth and adults. Recent findingsRecent literature reports mixed findings regarding changes in the prevalence of cannabis use after the adoption of RCL. Most studies found no significant association between RCL and changes in cannabis use among youth in European countries, Uruguay, the US, and Canada. However, some studies have reported increases in cannabis use among youth and adults in the US and Canada, although these increases seem to predate RCL. Additionally, there has been a marked increase in unintentional pediatric ingestion of cannabis edibles postlegalization, and an association between RCL and increased alcohol, vaping, and e-cigarette use among adolescents and young adults. SummaryOverall, the effects of cannabis legalization on cannabis use appear to be mixed. Further monitoring and evaluation research is needed to provide longer-term evidence and a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of RCL.

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“…This trend might be associated with COVID-19 quarantines, increased time children spent at home, increased availability of cannabis products in homes, etc. (Laudone et al 2022).…”

Section: Anomalies In the Context Of The Legalization Of Recreational...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cannabis use, abuse and dependence during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review

et al. 2022

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The interaction between cannabis use or addiction and SARS-COV-2 infection rates and COVID-19 outcomes is obscure. As of 08/01/2022 among 57 evaluated epidemiological/clinical studies found in Pubmed-database, most evidence for how cannabis use patterns were influenced by the pandemic was given by two systematic reviews and 17 prospective studies, mostly involving adolescents. In this age group, cannabis use patterns have not changed markedly. For adults, several cross-sectional studies reported mixed results with cannabis use having increased, decreased or remained unchanged. Two cross-sectional studies demonstrated that the severity of adults´ cannabis dependence was either increased as a consequence of increasing cannabis use during the pandemic or not changed. Regarding the effect of cannabis use on COVID-19 outcomes, we found only five retrospective/cross-sectional studies. Accordingly, (i) cannabis use did not impact mild COVID-19 symptoms; (ii) cannabis using individuals experienced more COVID-19-related hospitalizations; (iii) cannabis using veterans were associated with reduced SARS-COV-2 infection rates; (iv) frequent cannabis use was significantly associated with COVID-19 mortality, and (v) cannabis dependents were at higher risk of COVID-19 breakthrough after vaccination. It should be outlined that the validity of these retrospective/cross-sectional studies (all self-reports or register/e-health-records) is rather low. Future prospective studies on the effects of cannabis use on SARS-COV-2 infection rates and COVID-19 outcomes are clearly required for conclusive risk–benefit assessments of the role of cannabis on users’ health during the pandemic. Moreover, substance dependence (including cannabis) is associated with (often untreated) somatic comorbidity, which severity is a proven key risk factor for worse COVID-19 outcomes.

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Changes in unintentional cannabis exposures in children 6 months to 5 years reported to United States poison centers during the first nine months of the coronavirus-19 pandemic

Cited by 6 publications

References 8 publications

Child Protection System Interactions for Children With Positive Urine Screens for Illicit Drugs

Child Protection System Interactions for Children With Positive Urine Screens for Illicit Drugs

Effects of cannabis legalization on the use of cannabis and other substances

Cannabis use, abuse and dependence during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review

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