More states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, which has led to an increase in the number of American children accidentally eating cannabis-based products.
The number of children who have eaten a food product infused with cannabis has more than doubled in the last five years.
When sold in the form of candy, chocolate, or cookies, they look appealing to children, but can cause serious harm because of the patient's low weight.
In some 7,000 cases of ingestions by children over the five-year period of the study, no deaths were reported, but some children did need to be hospitalized.
Three year olds were the median age of the affected children.
Depression of the central nervous system was one of the symptoms of the children. IV fluids were used to treat the patients.
In the first year of the study, recreational marijuana was only legal in 8 US states and Washington.
The increases are believed to be associated with more states allowing adult, recreational use of cannabis.
With over 90 percent of ingestions occurring at home, researchers called on educating caregivers on the need to store cannabis products in locked containers
The authors wrote that cannabis products should be placed in child resistant packaging and that they should be in opaque packages with simple labels. There should be clear warnings on the product.
There are no laws regarding how cannabis products are packaged in the US.
Agence France- Presse.
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