Children are more likely to accidentally ingest high volumes of marijuana following the legalization of medical marijuana according to Times. It has been reported that at the time 18 states voted in favor of medical marijuana, children in the emergency room of Children's Hospital Colorado were suffering from symptoms related to the consumption of the drug.
Unsure of the revelation, doctors examined and analyzed child emergency room visits and concluded that "Between Oct. 2009 to Dec, 2011, 14 of 588 children were seen for marijuana exposure- eight involving medical marijuana and seven from food containing the drug."
"They're sold as edible products and soft drinks that kids will eat or drink because they don't know it's any different. If they're going to eat a whole cookie with 300 mg of THC, they will get much more symptomatic and sick and have to be admitted to the hospital," said Dr. George Wang, author and medical toxicology professional at the Rocky Mountains Poison and Drug Center.
The symptoms of a child who has ingested such a high volume of drug included troubles breathing, hallucinations and difficult to arouse. According to Times, the symptoms are very common and can be traced to various other sicknesses which makes it hard for doctors to narrow it down and treat the children. It also doesn't help if the guardians of the child refuse to admit to the child's consumption of medical marijuana or has no knowledge of the child being exposed to the drug.
"We're in this new age of allowing marijuana and we are seeing things we haven't seen before. We need to educate families to keep it out of the reach of kids. Treat it like a drug because it is a drug," said Wang.
With new legislation comes new responsibilities. Wang is hoping proper education will prevent health complications and the state of Colorado is reportedly seeking better, child proof, packaging.
