More children under 6 accidentally eating marijuana edibles than ever before, study finds
The number of young kids, especially toddlers, who accidentally ate marijuana-laced treats rose sharply over five years as pot became legal in more places in the U.S., according to a study published Tuesday.
And those are just the reported cases, said Dr. Marit Tweet, a medical toxicologist with the Southern Illinois School of Medicine, who led the study. Tweet called for greater vigilance by parents and for more laws like those adopted by several states to make pot products - often packaged to look like kids' candies and snacks - less appealing and accessible to children.
Tweet and her colleagues analyzed reports to the National Poison Data System, which includes the nation's 55 regional poison control centers. More than half of the children were toddlers, ages 2 and 3, the study showed. More than 90% got the edibles at home.Of more than 7,000 reports, researchers were able to track the outcomes of nearly 5,000 cases. They found that nearly 600 kids, or about 8%, were admitted to critical care units, most often with depressed breathing or even coma.
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