The number of youth consuming toxic levels of marijuana edibles or smoking marijuana to the point of needing emergency help has skyrocketed during the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday.
The new data is “troubling” to pediatric emergency physicians like Dr. Caleb Ward of Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, but not surprising.
“It would be an unusual week if we don’t see a child presenting to our emergency room with side effects from ingesting cannabis,” said Ward, who was not involved in the new report.
While older adolescents accounted for the vast majority of cannabis-related ER visits, the most striking increase was found among children under the age of 11: an increase of 214%, on average, from 2019 to 2022.
As many as 23 states currently have legalized recreational marijuana and 38 allow its medical use.
“Many households in the United States now have edible cannabis products,” Ward said. “They see these products that look like candy or brownies, sometimes in cartoon packaging, and they ingest them not because they want a cannabis product, but because it looks like fun.”
CDC researchers analyzed cannabis-related data from 1,671 emergency departments from 2020 through 2022, comparing them to similar visits in 2019.
More young girls in the ER for marijuana
Overall, 90% of visits were among adolescents and young adults ages 15-24. From 2019 to 2022, the average rate of cannabis-related ER visits in this age group increased slightly, by 8%, with the most notable increases just after stay-at-home orders were implemented in the spring of 2020.
This may mean that some teens were turning to marijuana to calm stressors related to the pandemic. And the marijuana products commonly used by this age group — weed pens and other high-THC vaping devices — may have contributed to a rise in related illnesses.
“Products with a high THC concentration may increase the risk of excessive consumption and lead to greater intoxicating effects,” the report authors wrote.
A teen who has consumed toxic levels of THC may present to the emergency room with confusion, vomiting, seizures or shortness of breath, Ward said.
Younger age groups had more significant increases in marijuana-related emergency room visits, according to the report. Among boys ages 11 to 14, girls had a particularly striking increase: an average increase of 111% from 2019 to 2022. The average increase for middle school children over the same time period was 24%.
“That data looking at our youngest girls is what really saddens me,” said Dr. Willough Jenkins, medical director of emergency liaison psychiatry and practices at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.
A separate CDC report released in February found record levels of sadness and hopelessness among young adolescent girls.
“Our high school girls are struggling and are using more cannabis than the boys,” said Jenkins, who was not involved in the new report. “So it makes sense that they would be the ones to get in, especially in high school,” when teens tend to start using cannabis intentionally.
Marijuana intoxication tripled in children under 11 years of age
However, the most significant increases were found in children under 11 years of age. The average number of ER visits for cannabis use in this age group more than tripled, from 20.9 per 10,000 visits in 2019 to 65.6 per 10,000 visits in 2022. That’s a 214% increase.
These exposures, the study authors wrote, are the likely result of accidental poisoning associated with marijuana edibles in child-friendly packaging.
It’s a problem that federal regulators are trying to address. Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission sent warning letters six companies for selling illegal imitations of THC-containing food products.
“These products can easily be confused with traditional foods such as chips, cookies, candy, gummies, or other snack foods. The FDA is concerned that these products could be accidentally ingested by consumers, including children, or taken in higher doses than intended. provided”. the regulators wrote.
Ward said that the effects of marijuana in very young children can be difficult to diagnose. A 2-year-old, for example, may be very sleepy and vomiting, but tests for typical virus and bacterial infections are normal.
Only through additional conversations with the families is the possibility that the child accidentally consumed a marijuana edible is revealed.
Experts recommend keeping groceries locked up and out of the reach of children, just like other dangerous items.
“As pediatricians, we always encourage families to ask those tough questions before playdates and gun sleepovers,” Ward said. “I would suggest that you should ask the same thing about edibles.”
