Marijuana Edibles: The Scourge for Kids

Imagine this scenario: While your friend is babysitting your toddler, her 21-year-old son places some delicious-looking marijuana “brownies” on the kitchen counter. Your innocent toddler gobbles up some of these enticing treats — and in a matter of hours ends up intubated and struggling for life in the ICU.

This scenario has already happened. And that pot on the counter? It’s all perfectly legal and professionally baked — in the two states that have made the use of recreational marijuana legal within their borders, with certain restrictions.

“It hurts teens, it ruins families who can’t crowbar their adult kids out of the basement, and now toddlers can get their little hands on it — literally,” said one teacher.

A study published on Monday in JAMA Pediatrics says the rates of marijuana exposure in young children — many of whom are just toddlers — have increased 150 percent in Colorado since 2004. That’s the same year pot was legalized in the Centennial State for recreational use.

Recreational and medicinal pot includes ‘edibles’ — products such as cookies, cakes, and candy bars.

“This is just too much,” Suzy Burris, a schoolteacher in New Mexico, told LifeZette. “Why is a drug like pot being legalized? It’s a gateway drug, it hurts teens, it ruins families who can’t crowbar their adult kids out of the basement, and now toddlers can get their little hands on it — literally.”

Several kids have had to be admitted to intensive care units and intubated due to edibles ingestion, according to The New York Times. Small kids can also become lethargic or agitated. They can vomit and lose balance after eating marijuana.

It’s a mother’s worst nightmare as she calls Poison Control or races to the hospital — her sick child getting sicker by the moment.

Pot has gotten into the hands of Colorado toddlers largely thanks to the federal government. Back in 2009, the feds declined to prosecute users and suppliers in that state who were conforming to the lax medical marijuana laws there.

Related: The Heavy Price of Persistent Pot Smoking

Several years later, when Colorado voters decided in 2014 to allow marijuana products to be sold on the retail market, researchers anticipated a rise in the rates of accidental exposure in children, according to The Times.

“But we were not prepared for the dramatic increase,” the senior author of the study, Dr. Genie E. Roosevelt, an associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Denver Health Medical Center, told The Times.

Between 2009 and 2015, there were 163 pediatric marijuana exposure cases documented by the poison control center in Colorado — and 81 children evaluated at one hospital for marijuana exposure, Archnewsy.com reported.

Pro-pot advocates might like to say that pot is medicinal — but it does not mirror any other medicine in terms of dosing consistency and portion size.

[lz_bulleted_list title=”Calls to Poison Control in Washington State” source=”thecannibist.com”]2006: 47 phone calls|2010: 150 phone calls|2013: 162 calls[/lz_bulleted_list]

Dr. Kari L. Franson, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy, noted that edible marijuana found in foods like candy bars or brownies usually contains more than one serving. “But what kid doesn’t eat an entire brownie?” she said to The Times. “And you know the toddler doesn’t read the label.”

Like a child getting his hands on a heroin needle, the occurrence may be rare — but the results are potentially deadly. Said Dr. Roosevelt, “While these ingestions are not common, the effects are significant and preventable.”

Secondhand smoke inhalation is another major concern for children who are around marijuana.

Between 2009 and 2015, marijuana-related child poison control cases in Colorado alone rose 34 percent each year, compared with a 19 percent annual increase in other states.

Colorado sold out to pot. Receiving almost $588 million in revenue from recreational marijuana in 2015 — as well as about $408 million from medical marijuana sales, including edibles — the state now finds itself dealing with unintended consequences.

Related: Colorado is Headed Down the Tubes

“Colorado must have been high when they made these decisions,” said one Boston-area 27-year-old mortgage professional. “I’ve seen how pot affects young adults who are hooked — but kids? They don’t have a choice in pot ruining their health. This does not bode well for Colorado kids’ futures.”

As of 2015, Colorado has required marijuana products to be sold in childproof packaging — and incredibly, this month a “gummy bear law” went into effect: Edible marijuana may not be made into the shape of humans, animals, or fruits, all of which might entice kids.

Twenty-three states have now passed legislation allowing marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes. Colorado and Washington have also decriminalized marijuana for recreational use, meaning products can be sold to people ages 21 and up.