A new study shows that more children, especially toddlers, are accidentally ingesting marijuana-laced foods.
The study from the journal Pediatrics shows that nearly 25% of the children who eat edibles end up in the hospital and some become seriously ill.
Doctors in the report looked at data from the National Poison Data System, which includes the country’s 55 regional poison control centers.
They found that over 50% of the children who ingested edibles were toddlers and over 90% of them got the edibles at home.
Some of the children ended up in the emergency room with breathing problems, vomiting and a fast heart rate. Others were admitted to critical care units, most often with breathing trouble.
Dr. Carl Kaplan, chief of the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, said with an increase of marijuana-laced products in people’s homes, parents and caregivers have to take steps to keep them away from children.
“They have to keep it labeled and they have to keep it locked away and they have to be mindful when they have it out that they don’t leave any of the product lying around,” Kaplan said. “Because once again, they look exactly like a candy that you know some child might have had before that looks really exciting to them and it definitely can cause some significant degree of harm and result in hospitalization and possibly even intensive care unit stays.”
The first legal dispensary for recreational marijuana opened in New York just last week.
More are expected to come, including on Long Island, which means more edibles will be available.
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