Unintentional Pediatric Ingestion of Cannabis—Addressing a Growing Public Health Risk

Tobin, Thomas; Xie, James; George, Kyle

doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.2652

JAMA Pediatr

2023

DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.2652

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Unintentional Pediatric Ingestion of Cannabis—Addressing a Growing Public Health Risk

Thomas Tobin,

James Xie,

Kyle George

Abstract: This Viewpoint discusses the growing unintentional ingestion of cannabis and copycat products by children and urges clinicians, legitimate cannabis companies, large consumer brands, state attorneys general, and national legislators to provide solutions and education to adult users.

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2024

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The Impact of Legalizing Recreational Cannabis on the Children of a Neighboring State

Chen,

Fullerton,

Smolinske

et al. 2024

Pediatr Emer Care

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Objectives In the United States, cannabis is legal for adult recreational use in 24 states and Washington, DC. Unintentional pediatric cannabis exposures have increased in many states following legalization. We evaluated the relationship between recreational cannabis legalization and the rates of unintentional pediatric exposures in a neighboring state that had not undergone legalization. Methods We obtained cannabis exposure cases for children 0–12 years from the New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center electronic database. Only deidentified patient data from closed-case exposure encounters were abstracted. Data were grouped as precommercial and postcommercial availability in neighboring Colorado, demarcated by January 2014. We coded cannabis products as edible, not edible, or unknown. For bivariable comparisons, we used odds ratios, risk ratio, χ2 test, and Wilcoxon rank sum test. We chose a type 1 error rate of 0.05 to determine significance. Results There were 269 exposures over 24 years of calls. Following neighboring legalization, the median number of exposures per year increased from 4 (interquartile range 2, 5) to 24.5 (16.5, 34), the median age increased from 1.9 to 3.0 (P = 0.007), and the relative risk of the exposure involving edible products was double (relative risk = 2.0, 95% confidence interval = 1.6, 2.6). The severity of the exposures' medical effects also increased (P = 0.008). Conclusions The number, severity, and type of pediatric cannabis exposures in New Mexico changed after neighboring recreational cannabis legalization. States neighboring those undergoing cannabis legalization should be prepared to respond to increased acute exposures in children.

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The Impact of Legalizing Recreational Cannabis on the Children of a Neighboring State

Chen,

Fullerton,

Smolinske

et al. 2024

Pediatr Emer Care

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Sociodemographic profile and clinical presentation of young children unintentionally exposed to marijuana: A single site retrospective cohort

Elliott,

Fonseca,

Dereci

et al. 2024

American J Addict

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Background and ObjectivesLegalization of medical marijuana has increased unintentional exposure to marijuana in young children.We aim to explore the sociodemographic disadvantage profile, prevalence, and clinical presentation of children diagnosed with unintentional exposure to marijuana.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective chart abstraction of 121 children (aged 0–6) seen at the Emergency Department (ED) at a single tertiary hospital center in Dayton, Ohio between January 01, 2010 and January 09, 2022.ResultsMajority were female (62.8%), white (50.4%), and with Medicaid as their primary insurance (84.3%). The median age at exposure was 1.8 years. There was a 14‐fold increase in unintentional marijuana cases pre‐2017 (7 cases) versus post‐2017 (114 cases), the year of legalization of medical marijuana in the state of Ohio. Majority of the patients were using public assistance (66.4%). 26.7% of the cases had a prior social work consultation and 38.1% had a prior children services consultation. 51.3% of the children had a social disadvantage index score of 3 or greater (range 0–5) with higher scores indicating greater disadvantage.Discussion and ConclusionsThe number of patients presenting to the ED at the hospital has increased 14‐fold since the legalization of medical marijuana in Ohio. Half of the children displayed a higher sociodemographic disadvantage index score.Scientific SignificanceOur study is the first study investigating the sociodemographic profile of children exposed to marijuana. The findings of this study may be utilized to inform policy for safely dispensing recreational and medicinal marijuana products and focus the efforts on families with sociodemographic disadvantage.

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Unintentional Pediatric Ingestion of Cannabis—Addressing a Growing Public Health Risk

Abstract: This Viewpoint discusses the growing unintentional ingestion of cannabis and copycat products by children and urges clinicians, legitimate cannabis companies, large consumer brands, state attorneys general, and national legislators to provide solutions and education to adult users.

Cited by 2 publications

References 5 publications

The Impact of Legalizing Recreational Cannabis on the Children of a Neighboring State

The Impact of Legalizing Recreational Cannabis on the Children of a Neighboring State

Sociodemographic profile and clinical presentation of young children unintentionally exposed to marijuana: A single site retrospective cohort

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