Resource Educates Families About Accidental Cannabis Consumption

The Minnesota legislature continues to review and discuss efforts to legalize marijuana in the state, which could put products such as cannabis edibles more readily within the reach of children and teens. The American Academy of Pediatrics Orange County chapter collaborated with its local health department to develop this flyer to help educate parents, caregivers and families about the dangers of edible cannabis for children. You are welcome to reproduce and distribute this flyer to your patients and families. A recent study in the journal Pediatrics, January 3, 2023, found that in 2017, there were just over 200 reported cases of accidental consumption of cannabis edibles by children under six. In 2021, the number jumped to 3,054 – an increase of 1,375 percent. In total, there were 7,043 exposures to edible marijuana reported to poison control from 2017 to 2021 in children under six. The vast majority of the kids found the drug in their own home. While most children suffered mild impacts, 22.7 percent of exposed children needed hospitalization, and 8 percent of them – 573 children over the five years of the study – needed critical care. Reference (Pediatric Edible Cannabis Exposures and Acute Toxicity: 2017–2021. Pediatrics (2023) 151 (2): e2022057761).