Accidental consumption of cannabis among US kids under 6 saw a whopping increase in last 5 years

The US witnessed a whopping 1,375 per cent increase in the number of young children accidentally consuming edible containing cannabis in the last five years. Data from the America’s Poison Centers shows that more than 7,040 kids under the age of six were exposed to edible cannabis between 2017 and 2021.

The study showed that in 2017 there were 207 reported cases of accidental edible cannabis exposure in kids under six, which rose to 3,054 by 2021.

Edible cannabis often come in the form of candies, cookies, brownies and chocolates, things kids are attracted to. There are knock-offs of famous brands available in the black market that carry cannabis. Researchers have found that the packaging of some such products looks nearly identical to the real thing. There are Doritos, Cheetos, Nerds Rope and more. Some packages also have child-friendly cartoon characters.

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In case the packaging mentions the presence of cannabis or THC, it’s often in small print, and most kids can’t read.

The centres handling poisoning calls reported that in 2020 alone, young kids’ accidental exposures to cannabis made up more than 40 per cent of all human poison exposure calls, according to the study published Tuesday in the journal Pediatrics.

“Honestly, we knew it was increasing. I work in the [emergency department] as well as taking calls for the poison center, and so even though I was seeing more cases coming through the ER, when we looked at the data nationwide, we were definitely surprised,” study co-author Dr. Antonia Nemanich, who works in emergency medicine and medical toxicology at Rush Emergency Medicine in Chicago, said.

While the exact reason behind the rise is not known, Dr. Nemanich says that there could be various reasons behind it. For eg, during the pandemic when kids were home more often, there was a rise. “There was a particular spike during the pandemic years,” she said.

According to a 2022 study, US states that legalized recreational cannabis use witnessed a 20 per cent more frequent use as compared to states that didn’t legalize it. Only eight states and the District of Columbia allowed recreational cannabis use in 2017, while 30 allowed it for medicinal purposes. The numbers saw a significant rise in 2021, to 19 and 40, respectively.

“I think all of that plays into this, and the regulations haven’t kept pace with the increased prevalence of the product,” Nemanich said.

Cannabis consumption can make kids very sick and lead to problems related to walking, sitting or breathing, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the study, in nearly a quarter of the cases, the toddlers had to be admitted to the hospital. Several of them had to be admitted to the intensive care.

(With inputs from agencies)

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