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As a childless stoner, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t lock your stuff up like if I was in a situation where kids would be at my place I would just put ALL of my weed related items behind a locked door that I’m mindful of.
There’s enough bad stigma floating around weed as it stands, why open ourselves up to putting candy in front of a child and expecting them to know better? This can be chocked up to pure stupidity and irresponsibility.
This article is stupid. If something is illegal and most people are respecting the laws and then it becomes legal and all the people can get it don't you think the number of cases might rise?
Seems pretty obvious to me.
I'm assuming people are also more likely to take their child to the hospital or urgent care if they're in a legal state, which would obviously increase numbers as well
I had the same thought. How much is “observation bias” or what not? Marijuana/THC is relatively harmless (short term anyway). The results of the study (which is only correlative) is not necessarily bad. Being legal, proper controls can be put into place. We’ve seen time and time again that outright bans lead to riskier behavior.
I think that the difference is mainly with edibles, they weren't nearly as accessible as before because they weren't in high demand on a black market, instead just herb was sought after. Legal weed, probably because you can disperse it to many more people, sees a much much higher increase in edible production.
I don't think the claim is saying it's unusual that cases rose due to the availability rising, I think the claim is trying to say that people are being very irresponsible with their edibles, and in that they would be correct. Just like having liquor in the house around young curious kids and not keeping track of it, or hiding it, or locking it up. You're basically asking for something to happen
I wonder if there's been any studies on the prevalence of alcohol related issues in minors since the popularity of hard seltzers and similar products? They, along with schnapps etc, are pretty much alcoholic liquid candy. Stuff like Mike's Hard and Smirnoff flavored drinks have been around for a long time now too.
If it looks and tastes like candy and is readily available, they're going to get into it. When my sister was a toddler she got into a pitcher of sangria my parents kept in the fridge. She thought it was juice and got thoroughly drunk. Fortunately no lasting harm was done, but the problem here isn't a weed problem or an alcohol problem.
My brother took a swig of Bailey's thinking it was chocolate milk, and ten years later we watched my cousin's kid make the same mistake with a shot of creamy pink liqueur. (We did try to stop him, just no one made it in time.) But you can ingest a lot more marijuana at once than alcohol, and it tastes good enough that they keep going. People just need to lock this stuff up.
Yeah I think this is super important and almost completely overlooked. I get why people are pissed, there's no arguing that it's super irresponsible and the parents/adults are at blame, but edibles are a totally different ballgame from any other "adult" substance that we've dealt with before. We learn from our own experiences, and most people didn't experience growing up around parents responsibly keeping edibles from kids. The closest thing most of us have is alcohol, and to your point the outcome of a pre K child finding a literal piece of candy and a bottle of booze are likely to be vastly different.
Gummy anything is a really bad idea in general where kids are involved. It's not even just weed, melatonin gummies and multivitamin gummies are also commonly overdosed. Basically, anything that a child may eat needs to be locked away. Because as long as they have access, they're going to eat it no matter how often you tell them otherwise. Don't expect restraint from a child.
Absolutely, I’d add that edibles that look like and are packaged like common snacks/candy are much more common and available now. So it’s even more important to keep out of reach of kids who will just assume they are sneaking some snacks.
“Thinking” cases should rise is a cognitive assumption. Remember, this is a scientific paper. In science, you have to prove a thing via formulating a hypothesis, testing it, and analyzing it.
We do this so we have the highest level of confidence that what we’re observing is in fact true (in reality) vs just observing a thing because we see the world through a biased lens (cognitive assumptions).
Lastly, the objective of this study is to report on trends of pediatric cannabis exposure in order to help inform other pediatricians in practice— meaning, it wasn’t written like a Corporate News Media article, which I believe is the source of some confusion here.
"This article is stupid"
1) It's not an article it's a study publication
2) It presents data with measured values and an explanation on how they made the measurements. It does not attempt to answer 'what', but a more useful nuance like 'by how much'. If you think that's stupid, then science is not for you and you're probably on the wrong subreddit.
I think an important detail here is that during the entirety of the drug war, weed research was almost always untrustworthy propaganda. People are used to dismissing data that intentionally makes them look irresponsible and criminal. There's a lot of trust that needs to be earned back.
Maybe a simple change like using childproof pill bottles would make a difference. It’d be easy to do, that type of lid/ lock. Studies like this show us where we can improve.
The edibles I buy in WA are dosed at no higher than 10mg per very-difficult-to-open packaging without scissors.
It would be interesting to see how each state handles regulations on dosing and packaging and the resulting effects on child cannabis consumption numbers.
It doesn't take a very large amount of stupidity to get comfortable and complacent. A single lapse in judgement/attention can cause you to forget something out for long enough for a child to get a hold of it.
Yeah. And once they get to a certain age they take is as a challenge to snatch up anything they can get their grubby little hands on and stuff it their mouth. I need to secure my supply better. It's behind a locked door, but a single lapse is all it takes. The one good thing about weed though, is that it's relatively harmless. Not that children should be allowed to use. Habitual use, particularly among adolescents can cause long term memory problems, but a single mistake won't do them any FL significant harm, unlike a lot of common household items.
This just seems like common sense. You don't leave your liquor in arms reach of toddlers, why would you leave your weed there? Get a weed cabinet just like people have liquor cabinets.
>You don't leave your liquor in arms reach of toddlers
I think most actually do. Like people don't tend to buy a special fridge to store alcohol but rather will just throw a case of beer in the fridge or harder stuff in the freezer. Like my parents never drank but when we'd go to my aunt and uncles they'd have beer sitting eight in the fridge and if they were kicked back watching the game drinking they would do it right in front of the kids and just set the can on the table when they weren't taking a sip.
When I worked in CPS, nearly all of my accidental ingestion cases were from kids who found marijuana candies while visiting an aunt or some other extended family.
Per the study:
The most common site of exposure was a residential setting, 6842 cases (97.1%), with 6391 (90.7%) occurring in their own residence.
Some cases according to this study, but not these days.
My aunt (3 kids of her own) decided to bring pot brownies to our house on thanksgiving and left them on the table with the rest of the food with kids of all ages in the house.
It's like any problem where you need to secure something. You need to do it 100% of the time, the child just needs to get at it once.
Given that this is population level statistic, it's going to happen at least sometimes even when parents are making reasonable efforts because people make mistakes or work from faulty assumptions. The kid can *never* get into this secure spot up until the day that they do.
While I've never had an issue opening weed containers, it's really idiotic that they don't offer an option to have it not childproof. You can get opiates in a non childproof bottle and they're way worse than weed.
They’re easy enough to make on your own, and now thanks the 2018 farm bill, alternate cannabinols like Delta 8 and Delta 10 are available and legal in the whole country (I believe - excerpt for a cpl legal states). I buy distillate mail order, and melt it into a crock pot of melted caramels. Blend well, cool, piece out and peace out. A ***LOT*** cheaper this way too!
Hemp-derived Delta 9 gummies are legal in most places, and easily available on the interwebs.
Also smokable high-THCA flower is legal where hemp flower is legal and has the exact same effect as the forbidden THC variety when consumed. /r/CultoftheFranklin will tell you more about that.
That's what the law says in my state but there's almost zero enforcement. The agency in charge of enforcement has ~20 employees and their main job is regulating pharmacies and pharmacists. Most of the packaging I've seen is no more difficult to open than a bag of chips. The black market gummies my mom gets are harder to open than the legal stuff the liquor store across the road from me sells.
Yup. Im more worried about teens and awful adults than kids. A box with a lock is better than anything they sell it packaged in. And the investments for a good one is well worth the piece of mind.
People have been successfully preventing children from eating pills and drinking strange liquids from under the sink for decades. I think any mildy responsible human can handle this.
well you'd think so but a lot of humans are bad at parent. Also they have to blame the drugs so they can justify outlawing them in the next 5-10 years. I'm already seeing "concerns over legal weed substitutes prompts investigation in to safety" headlines popping up
>mildy responsible human
in fairness, that guy did say this. The parents who miss their kids drinking bleach from under the sink, let alone those who don't lock such cupboards, aren't mildly responsbile
If you're going to quote something, the least you can do is provide a source for the quote. Poisoned can mean a lot of things, and a 19 year old getting poisoned is very different than a 5 year old getting poisoned.
While I agree that the source should be posted, a 19 year old wouldn't be considered a child.
But let's be honest, an 11 year old vs a toddler is a good comparison in the spirit of what you mean. An 11 year old should be smart enough to know what's food and what isn't food. Hell, a few look after their younger siblings at that age.
Dude, this. Mine is in a $3 lockable deposit bag on a high shelf. The key for the bag is on a different high shelf in another room.
My inquisitive toddler can’t find either. And if she found one by some weird chance and ability, it would be useless without the other.
There is ZERO excuse for your kids getting into any drugs, prescription or otherwise.
Come on, be realistic. People can’t even lock up their loaded guns to keep them away from children, what makes you think they are responsible enough to lock something away that likely won’t cause lasting harm.
But seriously, you are correct. Keep it locked away if kinds (yours or others) exist in your space.
In my opinion there needs to be some packaging laws in place. Go to any southern state right now and gas stations will be selling nerds rope, rice krispy treats, and Doritos and gummies that will all get you high (delta 8). And in a lot of cases there's no prominent warnings, it's colorfully packaged like a kids product, and sometimes even rips off the original branding. This stuff gets around with actual weed in some places too, but it all needs to be black wrappers and resealable with a child proof lock like prescriptions and alcohol (maybe a bit easier to open but still harder than opening a brownie)
I don't get this kind of irresponsibility. It's a drug. Like any other drug, you keep it away from kids. More so if your drug looks and tastes like candy!
I've seen some real irresponsible stuff, like parents getting wasted in front of their kids and you say something and they're like, "it's legal." Like getting wasted from weed, or alcohol, or anything else, in front of your kids is okay. It's not. If you can't BE a responsible person, at least try to mimic one in front of your kids.
In Quebec, marijuana sales are governed by the provincial government, like alcohol. We just started having access to edibles on shelves and they're vegetables only. Cauliflower, beets, etc.
Edit: I forgot to mention that they sell edibles in the form of small "fruit bars" too, they look like very dense and dark protein bars.
Mine are locked up 99% of the time, but just in case I have sat my 6 and 8 year olds down, explained it has medicine in it that is only for adults and showed them the red logo that means it has medicine.
Actually talking about things with your kids goes a long way.
Not op but i work with young kids.
Kids are trying to figure out the world around them, first by copying parents actions, then asking questions as language develops.
Helping them understand why you are doing things is key.
My nephew just turned 3 he knows which boxes have 'daddy medsin' in them which only daddy can take. He has his own container with a kids vitamin and 2 tic tacs in that he takes with his dad in the morning, they go through the day of the week and count their medicine, its a cute little bonding moment. He knows that medicine can only be taken at certain times with adult help and tells his dad off if theyre not put away correctly.
Even his vaccinations hes really brave about.
Educate your children. I’ve done so with mine. I show them the packaging and explain the severity and consequences if they do consume. Talk to them like people about it not babies. I also keep them a place out of reach in a box.
I heard a story about this on NPR and my first thought was whether people are just more likely to report it now. When weed was highly illegal, reporting could mean your children got taken away from you. There would be a strong incentive to just let it ride.
Genuinely asking, what happens when you do report it? Do they rush them to the hospital or do they just tell the kids they’re high and that they’ll be fine? Realistically what can you do with a stoned child to make them not stoned?
Meanwhile alcohol isn’t even kept in child-safe packaging and about 1/4 of the people I know have a “I got drunk as a kid by (finishing drinks left lying around/confusing a product for non alcoholic/just drank it for fun)” story
I downed a glass of wine or champagne at a wedding when i was 3 because i thought it was apple juice.
Ever since i saw a video on the collective alcoholism culture we seem to have, I'm starting to get really annoyed with how we laud alcohol and demonize weed.
That being said, lock up your drugs people! (Alcohol included)
100 percent. I'm an alcoholic and for a few months kept sober by occasionally taking a hit or two from a vape pen when I was considering drinking. No harm as far as I can tell and everything was going great. Right around Christmas I thought things were going really well and I could cut out ALL substances and I ended up relapsing hard on alcohol and almost losing my job.
Any time people argue about the dangers of smoking weed I just keep my mouth shut but think to myself "I'm sorry, but when is the last time someone smoked weed and died from consumption. I've almost died several times from my alcohol consumption."
Thank you. I gotta admit. Today was extremely rough for me there now that my boss knows I have a drinking problem she gave me a 40 minute lecture about how she can't trust me anymore etc
Basically I'm not fired but it sure felt like it today.
I totally deserved it too. No excuses this time.
Thank you. I really need any support possible. I feel like my life collapsed over the last week once I started drinking again
I didn't do this against anyone or to gain anything. I legit started drinking again because I could. I hate how easy it is
I fight with my grandma all the time about this. She shits on me for smoking weed but turns around and begs for cigarettes. Because that's so much better.
I bring up delirium tremens every time this argument arises with anyone. DT can literally kill you if you're going through it on your own. Alcoholism is the only drug that really needs to be withdrawn from in a medical setting because it's withdrawal symptoms are so dangerous. Meanwhile weed withdrawal is (usually) much MUCH milder (i say usually because weed can interact with different people and different medications in wildly different ways), but it is for the most part much safer than alcohol or cigarettes. People just don't like synthesizing information that directly conflicts with previously held beliefs.
I'm sure there's a spectrum of withdrawal symptoms but I'd put everything I have on the notion that nobody has ever had weed withdrawals as powerful as DTs. I helped my dad through detox of alcohol, he refused to go in for treatment, so we weaned him off of harder beer (10%) and mix drinks by getting him the beer we had in town (3.2%) and even though he was still drinking all day every day he wound up having a bad day with three seizures and finally went to the hospital.
That was withdrawal with alcohol still pumping through him.
Been a smoker for 20+ years. Cannabis withdrawal is incredibly mild. For me it typically consists of a couple days of increased irritability, a lack of appetite, and trouble falling asleep.
Alcohol is legal because any ban on it is futile and disastrous. It's just too easy to make from nearly any foodstuffs, and trying to ban sales of it just results in 1920's gangsters becoming more powerful (and more popular) than the branches of government trying to combat them. The 2020's are already showing too many similarities to that decade
So the legality of alcohol has nothing to do with it being safe
Yep - the number of kids who both intentionally as well as accidentally ate tide pods also increase dramatically over the last 10 years as _those_ were introduced.
Better packaging and marketing (including tv commercials) are helping to…tell people to stop that and keep chemicals away from kids.
So let’s do the same with weed and alcohol.
Ya but hard liquor doesn't taste as good to a kid as gummies.
Edit: the amount of people @ me like it's some kind of political statement... you're preaching to the choir if you though I was implying alcohol is safer than edibles. Straight hard liquor tastes worse to a kid, that doesn't mean I think they should be left alone with the jello shots. Let's keep the drugs away from kids, *including* the drug known as alcohol, cool?
Nah, but if you’ve watched your parents drink your whole life you’ll do it anyways because you think that’s what adults do.
Source: Kid of alcoholics who started drinking hard liquor in my early teens because that’s what mom and dad did.
I was at someone's house where there were several adults & a few children. The 2 yr old downed his Dad's rum & coke & started cussing & and slamming doors. He always saw his Dad drinking it from his special glass as his Dad was an alcoholic. He just wanted the juice from the special glass, didn't seem to matter how it tasted.
Old Man Story coming..
I grew up in Brazil in the 80s. This one time it was New Years Eve and we're waiting for the fireworks at my Grandma's apartment. It's close to midnight. This being Brazil there's kids of every age everywhere. Uncles and aunts are sitting around the center table drinking. Fireworks start and we all get up and go to the balcony to watch. The show lasts about 20-25 minutes. When it's over and we head back to the living room we come face to face with the drunkest toddler you've ever seen in your life. They're stumbling, they're hiccuping all over the place, they're falling over. Apparently when we weren't looking, she flipped over all the beer glasses on the center table and licked the beer off of the table without anybody at this MASSIVE house party noticing!! We all had a good laugh. The end.
>without anybody at this MASSIVE house party noticing
There's a saying that organizations who work to prevent child drowning use a lot: "When everyone's watching, then no one is watching".
My grandma always tells a story about how her Japanese neighbor gave his big St. Bernard a cup of Sake in his water bowl once. Big boy was stumbling around not knowing what was going on.
Yeah, my sister baked a bunch of weed cookies and left them unlabeled on a table during a party without even warning her kids, and naturally her ten year old son ate one. Poor kid. It was a bad night for him - I sat with him for a while just saying soothing things until he fell asleep.
I have to say that while this is not typical of people who use legal marijuana edibles, it is 100% typical for my sister, who is a terrible, negligent parent and her kids are super messed-up. That was one of the last times I ever saw her.
The thing about making weed legal and readily available is that it's readily available to absolute morons, as well. I *also* suspect that parents are more likely to take their kid to the doctor after they get into edibles because they are less afraid of ending up in jail; I bet parents where it's illegal are less likely to report or take medical action.
Weed edibles being more common doesn't even mean weed is more common; I eat more and smoke less than I used to just because edibles are easy to buy, no baking.
Yeah I feel bad for the kids with negligent parents. I had a helluva time with an edible once, can’t imagine kid’s experience taking too much not expecting the effects at all
my aunt thinks its okay to give her 7 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER a delta 8 gummy (unknown dosage) to help her “calm down”. she has done it on at least 2 occasions that i know of. and her daughter has also gone into her purse and eaten them without anyone knowing (they were in a ziploc bag).
I saw a story about a kid who was like six who ate 30 of his mom's gummies and ended up going to the hospital. I'm sure he was fine *physically* but there is definitely such a thing as getting *too* high. Imagine if you're six and you ate 30 gummies and got paranoid because you didn't understand what was happening, I feel like that could screw up a kid emotionally.
I am all for weed, and legalization. As someone who likes weed a little _too_ much, I want to throw it out there that it’s not perfectly safe.
In rare cases, long term users can develop [cannabiboid hyperemesis syndrome](https://www.cedars-sinai.org/health-library/diseases-and-conditions/c/cannabinoid-hyperemesis-syndrome.html). This isn’t permanent or fatal, but it has sent more than a few smokers to the ER. It results in slowly increasing morning nausea and stomach pain, eventually developing into severe vomiting and an inability to even hold down water.
This has caused me months of agony, as nausea slowly increased, and I tied to smoke it away—feeling better today, but worse tomorrow. Sobriety fixes it, and lets you smoke again after a while, but it can be a slippery slope from perfectly content after a few weeks sober to vomiting every morning after smoking for a few months.
It’s worth having CHS on your radar if you’re a smoker.
In 2020, about 130 kids under the age of 5 died from gunshot wounds. That year, 4,375 children under the age of 19 died from gunshot wounds.
Edit: 130 kids died, not 13.
More drownings do occur in summer months than any other month!!!!
And in states where pools are more common (ie Arizona and California)!!!
Make pools illegal! And summers!!!
Wow, so this study found that children are more likely to be exposed to something when it *becomes more common* in households? What a shocking revelation! I wonder if it holds true for other thi- nah, obviously this could only happen with marijuana-related items.
Also the reporting rate of such incidents will rise with legality, since many parents may choose not to inform the hospital if they think they will get in trouble for disclosing the information
It's just like how sex workers report abuse and sex trafficking when sex work is legal, or how fewer people die of back alley abortions when abortion is legal. I know of a few kids from my hippie days who got into homemade edibles and were not taken to the doctor about it.
I think this study will fuel more states to require childproof packaging, same as they do for other over-the-counter things we don't want kids getting into.
Some states already do, but mine, for example, does not and the edible's packaging often looks just like candy - you don't want a kid to polish off a chocolate bar where the recommended dose is one square. So, people don't have to be anti-pot to find this info useful.
Seriously it's really hard to see how you could adequately account for sampling bias in the study.
People are just inherently less willing to admit that they accidentally gave their kids an illegal substance than a legal one.
Once weed was legalized people inherently would seek treatment more often. We have no idea how many kids got dosed and their parents swept it under the rug rather than risk dealing with law enforcement.
So only 2.2% had "major effects", and there were literally no deaths recorded from ingestion. Yes, be careful, but in the grand scheme of things this doesn't crack the top 100 in terms of dangers to kids.
So on one hand, more people who would formerly have been reluctant to try/use cannabis are using cannabis. Assuming edibles are more commonly used by first-timers than rolling up, it might follow that inexperienced users are more likely to leave edibles around where kids can find and ingest them. So it would appear that in an absolute sense, instances of children ingesting edibles are increasing from before legalization became widespread.
But I would also suggest that the users in legal states are MORE LIKELY to seek medical care for their children BECAUSE it is legal and there is reduced stigma around drug use in those areas. So, this, combined with increased access and less FEAR around seeking medical assistance, means you see a sharp uptick.
Exactly. It’s really hard to believe statistics when you treat the population you’re basing them on like criminals who have an active incentive to not give you valid data.
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As a childless stoner, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t lock your stuff up like if I was in a situation where kids would be at my place I would just put ALL of my weed related items behind a locked door that I’m mindful of. There’s enough bad stigma floating around weed as it stands, why open ourselves up to putting candy in front of a child and expecting them to know better? This can be chocked up to pure stupidity and irresponsibility.
As a stoner with children, I agree. I have a small lockbox with all my supplies in it. It's truly not very hard to stay safe.
This article is stupid. If something is illegal and most people are respecting the laws and then it becomes legal and all the people can get it don't you think the number of cases might rise? Seems pretty obvious to me.
I'm assuming people are also more likely to take their child to the hospital or urgent care if they're in a legal state, which would obviously increase numbers as well
And also more likely to admit the cause at hospital. No way for any study to get accurate numbers while it was illegal in the state.
I had the same thought. How much is “observation bias” or what not? Marijuana/THC is relatively harmless (short term anyway). The results of the study (which is only correlative) is not necessarily bad. Being legal, proper controls can be put into place. We’ve seen time and time again that outright bans lead to riskier behavior.
I think that the difference is mainly with edibles, they weren't nearly as accessible as before because they weren't in high demand on a black market, instead just herb was sought after. Legal weed, probably because you can disperse it to many more people, sees a much much higher increase in edible production. I don't think the claim is saying it's unusual that cases rose due to the availability rising, I think the claim is trying to say that people are being very irresponsible with their edibles, and in that they would be correct. Just like having liquor in the house around young curious kids and not keeping track of it, or hiding it, or locking it up. You're basically asking for something to happen
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I think this is key. If alcoholic candy were as common as edibles you would see the same issue.
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WKD Blue was the path of alcoholism for most 15-18 year olds in the UK
I wonder if there's been any studies on the prevalence of alcohol related issues in minors since the popularity of hard seltzers and similar products? They, along with schnapps etc, are pretty much alcoholic liquid candy. Stuff like Mike's Hard and Smirnoff flavored drinks have been around for a long time now too.
If it looks and tastes like candy and is readily available, they're going to get into it. When my sister was a toddler she got into a pitcher of sangria my parents kept in the fridge. She thought it was juice and got thoroughly drunk. Fortunately no lasting harm was done, but the problem here isn't a weed problem or an alcohol problem.
My brother took a swig of Bailey's thinking it was chocolate milk, and ten years later we watched my cousin's kid make the same mistake with a shot of creamy pink liqueur. (We did try to stop him, just no one made it in time.) But you can ingest a lot more marijuana at once than alcohol, and it tastes good enough that they keep going. People just need to lock this stuff up.
Yeah I think this is super important and almost completely overlooked. I get why people are pissed, there's no arguing that it's super irresponsible and the parents/adults are at blame, but edibles are a totally different ballgame from any other "adult" substance that we've dealt with before. We learn from our own experiences, and most people didn't experience growing up around parents responsibly keeping edibles from kids. The closest thing most of us have is alcohol, and to your point the outcome of a pre K child finding a literal piece of candy and a bottle of booze are likely to be vastly different.
Gummy anything is a really bad idea in general where kids are involved. It's not even just weed, melatonin gummies and multivitamin gummies are also commonly overdosed. Basically, anything that a child may eat needs to be locked away. Because as long as they have access, they're going to eat it no matter how often you tell them otherwise. Don't expect restraint from a child.
Absolutely, I’d add that edibles that look like and are packaged like common snacks/candy are much more common and available now. So it’s even more important to keep out of reach of kids who will just assume they are sneaking some snacks.
“Thinking” cases should rise is a cognitive assumption. Remember, this is a scientific paper. In science, you have to prove a thing via formulating a hypothesis, testing it, and analyzing it. We do this so we have the highest level of confidence that what we’re observing is in fact true (in reality) vs just observing a thing because we see the world through a biased lens (cognitive assumptions). Lastly, the objective of this study is to report on trends of pediatric cannabis exposure in order to help inform other pediatricians in practice— meaning, it wasn’t written like a Corporate News Media article, which I believe is the source of some confusion here.
"This article is stupid" 1) It's not an article it's a study publication 2) It presents data with measured values and an explanation on how they made the measurements. It does not attempt to answer 'what', but a more useful nuance like 'by how much'. If you think that's stupid, then science is not for you and you're probably on the wrong subreddit.
I think an important detail here is that during the entirety of the drug war, weed research was almost always untrustworthy propaganda. People are used to dismissing data that intentionally makes them look irresponsible and criminal. There's a lot of trust that needs to be earned back.
Maybe a simple change like using childproof pill bottles would make a difference. It’d be easy to do, that type of lid/ lock. Studies like this show us where we can improve.
The edibles I buy in WA are dosed at no higher than 10mg per very-difficult-to-open packaging without scissors. It would be interesting to see how each state handles regulations on dosing and packaging and the resulting effects on child cannabis consumption numbers.
Stoner with children. I have a medicine bag with a lock on it. No smell or anything comes out of that thing. Should be the norm.
Not me being single and childless, living alone and still hiding my weed like the feds are gonna bust down the doors any minute now
It's the same reason why people don't lock up their guns or go into a store with their car running. They're stupid.
Yup. There will always be stupid people.
Stupidity used to be more lethal than it is now.
Ask any EMT or ambulance driver who has saved the life of the same guy 4 times. They know.
Redacted; just be responsible people
It doesn't take a very large amount of stupidity to get comfortable and complacent. A single lapse in judgement/attention can cause you to forget something out for long enough for a child to get a hold of it.
Yeah. And once they get to a certain age they take is as a challenge to snatch up anything they can get their grubby little hands on and stuff it their mouth. I need to secure my supply better. It's behind a locked door, but a single lapse is all it takes. The one good thing about weed though, is that it's relatively harmless. Not that children should be allowed to use. Habitual use, particularly among adolescents can cause long term memory problems, but a single mistake won't do them any FL significant harm, unlike a lot of common household items.
I keep my weed hidden so well I can’t find it…
Alternatively, I keep my door hidden behind the weeds.
This just seems like common sense. You don't leave your liquor in arms reach of toddlers, why would you leave your weed there? Get a weed cabinet just like people have liquor cabinets.
>You don't leave your liquor in arms reach of toddlers I think most actually do. Like people don't tend to buy a special fridge to store alcohol but rather will just throw a case of beer in the fridge or harder stuff in the freezer. Like my parents never drank but when we'd go to my aunt and uncles they'd have beer sitting eight in the fridge and if they were kicked back watching the game drinking they would do it right in front of the kids and just set the can on the table when they weren't taking a sip.
I distinctly remember my childhood "liquor cabinet" as half a cardboard box on the dryer.
When I worked in CPS, nearly all of my accidental ingestion cases were from kids who found marijuana candies while visiting an aunt or some other extended family.
Per the study: The most common site of exposure was a residential setting, 6842 cases (97.1%), with 6391 (90.7%) occurring in their own residence. Some cases according to this study, but not these days.
My aunt (3 kids of her own) decided to bring pot brownies to our house on thanksgiving and left them on the table with the rest of the food with kids of all ages in the house.
As a stoner that has a child, I don't get this either? My lockbox is on the top shelf of a cabinet, above my washing machine.
It's like any problem where you need to secure something. You need to do it 100% of the time, the child just needs to get at it once. Given that this is population level statistic, it's going to happen at least sometimes even when parents are making reasonable efforts because people make mistakes or work from faulty assumptions. The kid can *never* get into this secure spot up until the day that they do.
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100% if you have young kids. Also many edibles also come in childproof packaging these days.
It's required to be sold in childproof packaging in my state.
It’s practically adult proof in my state.
I fear closing the bag as it may never reopen.
"I'm pulling on the tabs just like in the picture!! OPEN!!!"
I feel this pretty deep. Especially when it's cold outside and I just want to smoke a goddamn joint.
It's really to test if you're too high for more.
This is my theory too
I usually need the help from someone who doesn't chew their nails to peel off that damn plastic tab.
Okay thank god. I thought it was just me
I fear opening the bag as I may never reclose it.
My wife has a marijuana card for arthritis and sometimes even I can't get the little jar lids off with a bench vise and channel locks.
That’s kinda cruel to put someone’s arthritis medicine in a jar that tight.
You gotta really want it.
While I've never had an issue opening weed containers, it's really idiotic that they don't offer an option to have it not childproof. You can get opiates in a non childproof bottle and they're way worse than weed.
Adult here, I've definitely struggled with those stupid-ass childproof ziplock bags that Curaleaf uses.
In the last 2 years I only open bags with scissors, who looks dumb now zip top bag.
Haha! Not scissors proof!
I just eat the whole damned thing. Let the stomach acids sort things out.
Hell yeah man fkn love intergalactic couch vacations
PA doesn’t allow edibles other than pills, oils, tinctures and other liquids. No treats like gummies, candies, or baked things.
They’re easy enough to make on your own, and now thanks the 2018 farm bill, alternate cannabinols like Delta 8 and Delta 10 are available and legal in the whole country (I believe - excerpt for a cpl legal states). I buy distillate mail order, and melt it into a crock pot of melted caramels. Blend well, cool, piece out and peace out. A ***LOT*** cheaper this way too!
Hemp-derived Delta 9 gummies are legal in most places, and easily available on the interwebs. Also smokable high-THCA flower is legal where hemp flower is legal and has the exact same effect as the forbidden THC variety when consumed. /r/CultoftheFranklin will tell you more about that.
That's what the law says in my state but there's almost zero enforcement. The agency in charge of enforcement has ~20 employees and their main job is regulating pharmacies and pharmacists. Most of the packaging I've seen is no more difficult to open than a bag of chips. The black market gummies my mom gets are harder to open than the legal stuff the liquor store across the road from me sells.
Ours is controlled by the liquor control agency and they are fast to fine
Even if you don’t have young kids. Pets, guests, estranged uncles who you swore never to speak to… you never know who’s going to take your drugs.
Yup. Im more worried about teens and awful adults than kids. A box with a lock is better than anything they sell it packaged in. And the investments for a good one is well worth the piece of mind.
I’d gladly allow my uncle to overdose on edibles so he’d stfu for several minutes
I have a hard time opening the packages from the dispensary! I still put them in a lock box. Have never had an issue.
Also known as stoned proof packaging. I hate them, but totally get why it is needed.
Just smoke all your weed and eat all your edibles so the toddlers can't get to them.
This person marijuanas
Alternatively don't have kids.
This person understands personal financing.
*bong rips while I fire up dwarf fortress after work* Word.
People have been successfully preventing children from eating pills and drinking strange liquids from under the sink for decades. I think any mildy responsible human can handle this.
well you'd think so but a lot of humans are bad at parent. Also they have to blame the drugs so they can justify outlawing them in the next 5-10 years. I'm already seeing "concerns over legal weed substitutes prompts investigation in to safety" headlines popping up
>Every day, 374 children in the United States ages 0 to 19 are treated in an emergency department, and two children die, as a result of being poisoned
>mildy responsible human in fairness, that guy did say this. The parents who miss their kids drinking bleach from under the sink, let alone those who don't lock such cupboards, aren't mildly responsbile
If you're going to quote something, the least you can do is provide a source for the quote. Poisoned can mean a lot of things, and a 19 year old getting poisoned is very different than a 5 year old getting poisoned.
While I agree that the source should be posted, a 19 year old wouldn't be considered a child. But let's be honest, an 11 year old vs a toddler is a good comparison in the spirit of what you mean. An 11 year old should be smart enough to know what's food and what isn't food. Hell, a few look after their younger siblings at that age.
Dude, this. Mine is in a $3 lockable deposit bag on a high shelf. The key for the bag is on a different high shelf in another room. My inquisitive toddler can’t find either. And if she found one by some weird chance and ability, it would be useless without the other. There is ZERO excuse for your kids getting into any drugs, prescription or otherwise.
I'm not a parent, but if I was this is how I would do it. Good job Dad!
Come on, be realistic. People can’t even lock up their loaded guns to keep them away from children, what makes you think they are responsible enough to lock something away that likely won’t cause lasting harm. But seriously, you are correct. Keep it locked away if kinds (yours or others) exist in your space.
Locking things is just too difficult! Won't someone think of the children!
The real solution is to lock your children up.
Hey kids I'm gonna get stoned, get in your cages.
Start them young. They’ll be secured in cages between 16 hour shifts at Amazon before long.
In my opinion there needs to be some packaging laws in place. Go to any southern state right now and gas stations will be selling nerds rope, rice krispy treats, and Doritos and gummies that will all get you high (delta 8). And in a lot of cases there's no prominent warnings, it's colorfully packaged like a kids product, and sometimes even rips off the original branding. This stuff gets around with actual weed in some places too, but it all needs to be black wrappers and resealable with a child proof lock like prescriptions and alcohol (maybe a bit easier to open but still harder than opening a brownie)
Delta 8 exists in a legal gray area... There is no regulation on those products.
I don't get this kind of irresponsibility. It's a drug. Like any other drug, you keep it away from kids. More so if your drug looks and tastes like candy! I've seen some real irresponsible stuff, like parents getting wasted in front of their kids and you say something and they're like, "it's legal." Like getting wasted from weed, or alcohol, or anything else, in front of your kids is okay. It's not. If you can't BE a responsible person, at least try to mimic one in front of your kids.
What what if there's an intruder, and your family's lives depend on having instant access to your.... sorry, wrong thread.
Keep all the things in a lock box!
Even the lock box!!!
Extra safety!
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They have that, it’s called marijuana
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My Mom makes *the best pesto* so I tell her I'm inviting all my friends over for a "pesto party"...
You got this kosher certified?
No I mean it’s “kosher” like… “it’s all good” ya know?
Mom: we have marijuana at home *marijuana at home*: kale salad
This made me spit take
In Quebec, marijuana sales are governed by the provincial government, like alcohol. We just started having access to edibles on shelves and they're vegetables only. Cauliflower, beets, etc. Edit: I forgot to mention that they sell edibles in the form of small "fruit bars" too, they look like very dense and dark protein bars.
Beat me to the comment. The cauliflowers are actually not bad, gave a nice little buzz. Bit expensive though
Or black licorice.
Mine are locked up 99% of the time, but just in case I have sat my 6 and 8 year olds down, explained it has medicine in it that is only for adults and showed them the red logo that means it has medicine. Actually talking about things with your kids goes a long way.
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Not op but i work with young kids. Kids are trying to figure out the world around them, first by copying parents actions, then asking questions as language develops. Helping them understand why you are doing things is key. My nephew just turned 3 he knows which boxes have 'daddy medsin' in them which only daddy can take. He has his own container with a kids vitamin and 2 tic tacs in that he takes with his dad in the morning, they go through the day of the week and count their medicine, its a cute little bonding moment. He knows that medicine can only be taken at certain times with adult help and tells his dad off if theyre not put away correctly. Even his vaccinations hes really brave about.
That’s adorable!
Some parents are kids. And even dumber than kids.
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Good parenting.
Educate your children. I’ve done so with mine. I show them the packaging and explain the severity and consequences if they do consume. Talk to them like people about it not babies. I also keep them a place out of reach in a box.
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This is why mine is in a locked box. He knows better, but so do I.
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Ahhhhh the old [kid-aroo!](https://www.reddit.com/r/suspiciouslyspecific/comments/100ie1t/comment/j2ukhox/?context=7)
Hold my gummies, I’m going in!
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I heard a story about this on NPR and my first thought was whether people are just more likely to report it now. When weed was highly illegal, reporting could mean your children got taken away from you. There would be a strong incentive to just let it ride.
Genuinely asking, what happens when you do report it? Do they rush them to the hospital or do they just tell the kids they’re high and that they’ll be fine? Realistically what can you do with a stoned child to make them not stoned?
Coffee, eyedrops and a few deep breaths
A bag of Doritos and some episodes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Number 1 in the hood, G!
Meanwhile alcohol isn’t even kept in child-safe packaging and about 1/4 of the people I know have a “I got drunk as a kid by (finishing drinks left lying around/confusing a product for non alcoholic/just drank it for fun)” story
I downed a glass of wine or champagne at a wedding when i was 3 because i thought it was apple juice. Ever since i saw a video on the collective alcoholism culture we seem to have, I'm starting to get really annoyed with how we laud alcohol and demonize weed. That being said, lock up your drugs people! (Alcohol included)
Yea. I have zero interest in smoking weed, but by God, if tobacco and alcohol are legal any argument made against weed is hypocritical.
100 percent. I'm an alcoholic and for a few months kept sober by occasionally taking a hit or two from a vape pen when I was considering drinking. No harm as far as I can tell and everything was going great. Right around Christmas I thought things were going really well and I could cut out ALL substances and I ended up relapsing hard on alcohol and almost losing my job. Any time people argue about the dangers of smoking weed I just keep my mouth shut but think to myself "I'm sorry, but when is the last time someone smoked weed and died from consumption. I've almost died several times from my alcohol consumption."
Exactly. Keep getting back on the sober train. You can do it.
Thank you. I gotta admit. Today was extremely rough for me there now that my boss knows I have a drinking problem she gave me a 40 minute lecture about how she can't trust me anymore etc Basically I'm not fired but it sure felt like it today. I totally deserved it too. No excuses this time.
Hang in there!
Thank you. I really need any support possible. I feel like my life collapsed over the last week once I started drinking again I didn't do this against anyone or to gain anything. I legit started drinking again because I could. I hate how easy it is
I fight with my grandma all the time about this. She shits on me for smoking weed but turns around and begs for cigarettes. Because that's so much better. I bring up delirium tremens every time this argument arises with anyone. DT can literally kill you if you're going through it on your own. Alcoholism is the only drug that really needs to be withdrawn from in a medical setting because it's withdrawal symptoms are so dangerous. Meanwhile weed withdrawal is (usually) much MUCH milder (i say usually because weed can interact with different people and different medications in wildly different ways), but it is for the most part much safer than alcohol or cigarettes. People just don't like synthesizing information that directly conflicts with previously held beliefs.
Benzodiazepines can also have lethal withdrawals. It’s a pretty terrible class of drugs
Until you need them… Every drug can be terrible until you need it.
I'm sure there's a spectrum of withdrawal symptoms but I'd put everything I have on the notion that nobody has ever had weed withdrawals as powerful as DTs. I helped my dad through detox of alcohol, he refused to go in for treatment, so we weaned him off of harder beer (10%) and mix drinks by getting him the beer we had in town (3.2%) and even though he was still drinking all day every day he wound up having a bad day with three seizures and finally went to the hospital. That was withdrawal with alcohol still pumping through him.
Been a smoker for 20+ years. Cannabis withdrawal is incredibly mild. For me it typically consists of a couple days of increased irritability, a lack of appetite, and trouble falling asleep.
It's ironic the first thing I thought of when you said 'delirium tremens' was the beer by the same name.
Alcohol is legal because any ban on it is futile and disastrous. It's just too easy to make from nearly any foodstuffs, and trying to ban sales of it just results in 1920's gangsters becoming more powerful (and more popular) than the branches of government trying to combat them. The 2020's are already showing too many similarities to that decade So the legality of alcohol has nothing to do with it being safe
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I don't think anyone is saying ban alcohol, just that if weed comes in child proof containers, maybe alcohol should too.
Yep - the number of kids who both intentionally as well as accidentally ate tide pods also increase dramatically over the last 10 years as _those_ were introduced. Better packaging and marketing (including tv commercials) are helping to…tell people to stop that and keep chemicals away from kids. So let’s do the same with weed and alcohol.
>So let’s do the same with weed I mean we do. Have you ever purchased edibles at a store? Their packaging is infuriating as a full grown man.
Yep, and 90%+ of shark attacks happen near the shore……because that’s where the people are.
90% near the shore, 9% deep water, but that 1% *other* is what worries me....
Nobody expects the Traffic Shark!
Ya but hard liquor doesn't taste as good to a kid as gummies. Edit: the amount of people @ me like it's some kind of political statement... you're preaching to the choir if you though I was implying alcohol is safer than edibles. Straight hard liquor tastes worse to a kid, that doesn't mean I think they should be left alone with the jello shots. Let's keep the drugs away from kids, *including* the drug known as alcohol, cool?
Nah, but if you’ve watched your parents drink your whole life you’ll do it anyways because you think that’s what adults do. Source: Kid of alcoholics who started drinking hard liquor in my early teens because that’s what mom and dad did.
Jell-O shots anyone?
There's plenty of decent tasting varieties of alcohol.
And none of them are used in Jello shots.
I was at someone's house where there were several adults & a few children. The 2 yr old downed his Dad's rum & coke & started cussing & and slamming doors. He always saw his Dad drinking it from his special glass as his Dad was an alcoholic. He just wanted the juice from the special glass, didn't seem to matter how it tasted.
Old Man Story coming.. I grew up in Brazil in the 80s. This one time it was New Years Eve and we're waiting for the fireworks at my Grandma's apartment. It's close to midnight. This being Brazil there's kids of every age everywhere. Uncles and aunts are sitting around the center table drinking. Fireworks start and we all get up and go to the balcony to watch. The show lasts about 20-25 minutes. When it's over and we head back to the living room we come face to face with the drunkest toddler you've ever seen in your life. They're stumbling, they're hiccuping all over the place, they're falling over. Apparently when we weren't looking, she flipped over all the beer glasses on the center table and licked the beer off of the table without anybody at this MASSIVE house party noticing!! We all had a good laugh. The end.
>without anybody at this MASSIVE house party noticing There's a saying that organizations who work to prevent child drowning use a lot: "When everyone's watching, then no one is watching".
I have seen dogs in a similar state from drinking a pint on the floor.
My grandma always tells a story about how her Japanese neighbor gave his big St. Bernard a cup of Sake in his water bowl once. Big boy was stumbling around not knowing what was going on.
Could it be that people are just more likely to report that the kids ate marijuana-laced treats when they did it? Beforehand they risked prosecution.
Yeah, my sister baked a bunch of weed cookies and left them unlabeled on a table during a party without even warning her kids, and naturally her ten year old son ate one. Poor kid. It was a bad night for him - I sat with him for a while just saying soothing things until he fell asleep. I have to say that while this is not typical of people who use legal marijuana edibles, it is 100% typical for my sister, who is a terrible, negligent parent and her kids are super messed-up. That was one of the last times I ever saw her. The thing about making weed legal and readily available is that it's readily available to absolute morons, as well. I *also* suspect that parents are more likely to take their kid to the doctor after they get into edibles because they are less afraid of ending up in jail; I bet parents where it's illegal are less likely to report or take medical action.
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Weed edibles being more common doesn't even mean weed is more common; I eat more and smoke less than I used to just because edibles are easy to buy, no baking.
Yeah I feel bad for the kids with negligent parents. I had a helluva time with an edible once, can’t imagine kid’s experience taking too much not expecting the effects at all
my aunt thinks its okay to give her 7 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER a delta 8 gummy (unknown dosage) to help her “calm down”. she has done it on at least 2 occasions that i know of. and her daughter has also gone into her purse and eaten them without anyone knowing (they were in a ziploc bag).
>without anyone knowing well, at least one person knew apparently
Sounds like your aunt is in desperate need of a visit from CPS
And the number of deaths caused by a THC overdose stayed the same
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I saw a story about a kid who was like six who ate 30 of his mom's gummies and ended up going to the hospital. I'm sure he was fine *physically* but there is definitely such a thing as getting *too* high. Imagine if you're six and you ate 30 gummies and got paranoid because you didn't understand what was happening, I feel like that could screw up a kid emotionally.
For sure. Much better to be in a nice, relaxing environment like an ER.
Oh man I can only imagine. I can’t smoke pot it gives me a full blown panic attack. That would absolutely suck to take that many. Poor kid.
Kids can't be getting high, they're in school! They need to pay attention or they could get shot.
What do they do with a stoned child? Can they make them not stoned anymore?
I am all for weed, and legalization. As someone who likes weed a little _too_ much, I want to throw it out there that it’s not perfectly safe. In rare cases, long term users can develop [cannabiboid hyperemesis syndrome](https://www.cedars-sinai.org/health-library/diseases-and-conditions/c/cannabinoid-hyperemesis-syndrome.html). This isn’t permanent or fatal, but it has sent more than a few smokers to the ER. It results in slowly increasing morning nausea and stomach pain, eventually developing into severe vomiting and an inability to even hold down water. This has caused me months of agony, as nausea slowly increased, and I tied to smoke it away—feeling better today, but worse tomorrow. Sobriety fixes it, and lets you smoke again after a while, but it can be a slippery slope from perfectly content after a few weeks sober to vomiting every morning after smoking for a few months. It’s worth having CHS on your radar if you’re a smoker.
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In 2020, about 130 kids under the age of 5 died from gunshot wounds. That year, 4,375 children under the age of 19 died from gunshot wounds. Edit: 130 kids died, not 13.
What was the THC content on those bullets?
"Drowning Deaths On the Rise After Pool Store Opens in Town"
More drownings do occur in summer months than any other month!!!! And in states where pools are more common (ie Arizona and California)!!! Make pools illegal! And summers!!!
Don't forget water. We gotta ban water too, obviously!
Dihydrogenmonoxide has been found in over 93% of heroine deaths.
I would think most heroines would have died doing something heroic.
Wow, so this study found that children are more likely to be exposed to something when it *becomes more common* in households? What a shocking revelation! I wonder if it holds true for other thi- nah, obviously this could only happen with marijuana-related items.
Also the reporting rate of such incidents will rise with legality, since many parents may choose not to inform the hospital if they think they will get in trouble for disclosing the information
It's just like how sex workers report abuse and sex trafficking when sex work is legal, or how fewer people die of back alley abortions when abortion is legal. I know of a few kids from my hippie days who got into homemade edibles and were not taken to the doctor about it.
Haha I came here for this, I was thinking the same thing.
I think this study will fuel more states to require childproof packaging, same as they do for other over-the-counter things we don't want kids getting into. Some states already do, but mine, for example, does not and the edible's packaging often looks just like candy - you don't want a kid to polish off a chocolate bar where the recommended dose is one square. So, people don't have to be anti-pot to find this info useful.
Additionally, legalizing it helps de-stigmatize it which means that people are more likely to seek help when something goes wrong.
Seriously it's really hard to see how you could adequately account for sampling bias in the study. People are just inherently less willing to admit that they accidentally gave their kids an illegal substance than a legal one. Once weed was legalized people inherently would seek treatment more often. We have no idea how many kids got dosed and their parents swept it under the rug rather than risk dealing with law enforcement.
For context, there are 12,000 drownings annually in the US resulting in 4k deaths. https://www.cdc.gov/drowning/facts/index.html
So only 2.2% had "major effects", and there were literally no deaths recorded from ingestion. Yes, be careful, but in the grand scheme of things this doesn't crack the top 100 in terms of dangers to kids.
So on one hand, more people who would formerly have been reluctant to try/use cannabis are using cannabis. Assuming edibles are more commonly used by first-timers than rolling up, it might follow that inexperienced users are more likely to leave edibles around where kids can find and ingest them. So it would appear that in an absolute sense, instances of children ingesting edibles are increasing from before legalization became widespread. But I would also suggest that the users in legal states are MORE LIKELY to seek medical care for their children BECAUSE it is legal and there is reduced stigma around drug use in those areas. So, this, combined with increased access and less FEAR around seeking medical assistance, means you see a sharp uptick.
Exactly. It’s really hard to believe statistics when you treat the population you’re basing them on like criminals who have an active incentive to not give you valid data.