Dayton Children’s Hospital has seen an increase in children in its ER after eating or inhaling marijuana in the past five years.
This uptick comes following the legalization of both recreational and medical marijuana in Ohio.
In 2024, the hospital has so far seen 66 cases of unintentional ingestions of cannabis products compared to 47 last year.
If a child ingests any marijuana products, Poison Control can be reached 24/7 at 1-800-222-1222.
The head physician of the ER at Dayton Children’s Hospital, Thomas Krzmarzick, has been working in the emergency room since the 1980s. He said the number of ingestions in children is staggering compared to his early years in the ER.
“Ingestion of marijuana or exposure to marijuana in young children was essentially an extremely rare event,” he said. “In fact, I can’t remember maybe one child in the 90s and early 2000s that I took care of. It was actually a very, very rare event. And I can tell you since the legalization of marijuana, we’ve just seen a skyrocket of those patients.”
Krzmarzick said the majority of these cases involved children under five years old.
“It’s about 25% of them are between three and four and 27% of them are between two and three,” he said. “So this is 2 to 5 year age group that really is at the highest risk for actually any ingestion, that unintentional ingestion.”
Most ingestions cause central nervous system depression or lethargy, lack of muscle coordination and brain fog. But higher risk reactions can cause asthma attacks or lung irritation.
“There are certainly a large number of other things that can happen. They can have nausea, they can have vomiting and things,” Krzmarzick said. “It kind of depends on how much they have ingested.”
Kids will often accidentally eat edible products intended only for adults, assuming they are candy, he said.
“The toddler is going to have a significant overdose, compared to an adult dose,” he said. “They’re going to not eat just one rectangle, they’re going to eat the whole candy bar or five or six or seven of them. So they certainly can easily get a dose that can cause significant symptoms for them.”
Krzmarzick suggests storing any cannabis products in a locking bag or box and out of reach around kids. He warned consumers to also be mindful of where the items are at all times for safety during the holiday season.
“People need to view this as a serious substance that should be put up, away, out of sight,” he said. “Put in locked storage if possible. And if you keep this in an accessible area, i.e., your coat or a purse, you know, make sure that that’s put out of reach.”
H/T: www.wyso.org
