The rate of marijuana exposure among U.S. children 5 years old and younger increased by more than 147 percent between 2006 and 2013, according to a study published in June in Clinical Pediatrics.
Such exposure increased even more in states that legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes before 2000. In those states, researchers found that childhood marijuana exposure increased almost 610 percent between 2006 and 2013.
“Any state considering marijuana legalization needs to include child protections in its laws from the very beginning,” said Gary Smith, MD, DrPH, senior author of the study and director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in a news release. “Child safety must be part of the discussion when a state is considering legalization of marijuana.”
Almost half of all states and Washington, D.C., had legalized medical marijuana as of January. Voters in states such as Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington as well as Washington, D.C., have also approved legalizing marijuana for recreational use. However, the study found that even in states where marijuana was not legal as of 2013, childhood exposure increased by 63 percent.
The study, which used data from the National Poison Data System, also found that more than 75 percent of the children who were exposed were younger than 3, and most children became exposed after swallowing marijuana. Researchers noted that most exposures resulted in minor clinical effects. However, some children experienced coma, decreased breathing or seizures.
“The high percentage of ingestions may be related to the popularity of marijuana brownies, cookies and other foods,” said study co-author Henry Spiller, MS, D.ABAT, a toxicologist and director of the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “Very young children explore their environments by putting items in their mouths, and foods such as brownies and cookies are attractive.”
Overall, there were more than 1,900 reports to poison control centers of young children being exposed to marijuana in the U.S. from 2000 through 2013, the study said.
For more information on the study, visit http://cpj.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/06/03/0009922815589912.full.
Michele Late contributed to this report.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
