Dr. Michael Hodgman, Upstate Medical University clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine, discusses the increase in the number of children ingesting poison correlates to the increase in the use of cannabis edibles.
P-J photo by Dennis Phillips
Cannabis edibles are being blamed for an increase in the number of poison cases in children.
On Thursday, the Upstate Poison Center held a health educators webinar with guest speaker Dr. Michael Hodgman, Upstate Medical University clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine, who said marijuana edibles are the cause for the increase in the number of poison cases in children. He said at the Upstate New York Poison Center in Syracuse, there were only a handful of cases of children under the age of 6 being poisoned by ingestion. However, he said since 2014 when medical marijuana because legal in New York state, the number of cases has increased each year, with the number significantly increasing since recreational marijuana use became legal last year.
“There was a real jump in 2020 and has continued into 2021,” he said.
Hodgman also said New York state bordering two areas, the state of Massachusetts and Ontario, Canada, where recreational marijuana use has been legal for several years has also led to the increase in children being poisoned.
“Edibles account for more than 60% of kids being exposed,” he said.
In 2017, Hodgman said the state of Colorado, where recreational marijuana use has been legal since 2012, prohibited the sale of cannabis edibles that look like gummy bears, or any animal, and fruit. He said in Colorado and Washington state, children being hospitalized from ingesting poison have increased since they legalized recreational marijuana use.
“They increased dramatically after legalizing and jumped again after retail sales were allowed,” he said.
Hodgman said 10 years ago when he evaluated a sick child he didn’t even consider cannabis as the cause. Now, however, it’s the first item he considers.
During the webinar, Hodgman talked about how the sale of edible cannabis has increased dramatically in recent years. He said in the state of California in 2016, edibles only accounted for 10% of legal sales. He said in 2020, sales increased to 22%. He added in 2017 in the state of Washington, edible sales doubled.
Hodgman also discussed the difference between smoking marijuana and ingesting cannabis. He said when smoking cannabis the effects start within minutes and the peak concentration lasts 20 to 30 minutes. However, when eating an edible, the effects sometimes don’t start for 60 minutes and then there is a longer clinical effect. He added that the issue with edibles is that people who are used to smoking marijuana and feeling the effects right away might “double dose” themselves when ingesting an edible because they don’t feel the impact as quickly, which increases the risk of an overdose.
“This can lead to extreme intoxication,” he said.
Hodgman also said the level of THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana, has significantly increased nationally during the last 20 years. He said the average THC component in marijuana has increased from 4% to 12% during that time.
“The THC content is dramatically higher,” he said.
Data from Colorado indicates that in 2014 the average THC in cannabis was 16.4%, Hodgman said. He said that number increased by 2.7%, to 19.1%, by 2019.
As the THC is increasing, Hodgman said the cannabidiol, or CBD, is decreasing in cannabis. He said CBD to a degree lessens the intoxicating effects of THC. He said in 1995 the ratio of THC to CBD was 15 to 1 in cannabis. He said by 2012, the ratio had increased to 80 to 1.
“The plant is getting more potent,” he said.
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