Between 2017 and 2021, the number of children under the age of six who accidentally ingested cannabis, in candy or brownies for example, increased 1375%, according to a study published on Tuesday.
Little gummy bears that look like candies, but aren’t. A priori classic chocolate brownies, but which can have a surprising effect. One of the ways of consuming cannabis is through food, what the Anglo-Saxons call “edibles” and which has no real equivalent in everyday French language, except “space cake“.
The purchase of these elements is legal in several American states, such as California, Montana or New York State. By their normal appearance, they can be mistaken for non-cannabis food and accidentally ingested. In the United States, poison control centers record the number of children under the age of six who have been exposed to “edibles“.
A study published this Tuesday in the American scientific journal Pediatrics analyzed this data and draws the following conclusion: the number of children who ingested food containing cannabis increased by 1375% between 2017 and 2021 in the United States.
In 2017, the American official services identified 207 cases of exposure to these foods. In 2021, 3054 cases were recorded. Over the five years studied, the overwhelming majority (nearly 98%) of cases occurred in residential settings, and 90% of children who ingested cannabis in food did so in their own homes. 22.7% of the children concerned by this study had to be hospitalized.
Trend towards legalization
The medical authors of the study explain this evolution by “a greater number of States authorizing the recreational use of cannabis by adults”.
Antonia Nemanich, co-author of the study, also points out from CNN a “particular peak during the pandemic years”, when children spent more time at home.
However, these edible preparations “are particularly appealing to toddlers because they resemble common treats such as candies, chocolates, cookies or other cakes” and “a child cannot recognize the need to stop after a bite/segment/part”, even if this bite is particularly loaded in THC, underlines the study.
Symptoms leading to coma
Children being lighter, “the THC level per kilo of body mass is much higher than for the same amount ingested by an adult”, warns the poison control center of Ontario, Canada, on his site.
In the event of ingestion, the symptoms vary greatly between children. Some “feel none, others fall into a coma” or “must be placed on a ventilator and monitored in an intensive care unit,” lists the Ontario Poison Control Center.
To limit the exposure of children to this type of food, the doctors who authored the study in Pediatrics recommend “prioritizing prevention strategies such as changing product packaging and labeling, regulating the maximum allowable dose in a package, and increasing public education about the domestic risk mitigation”.
