Marijuana emergency department visits for children, teens have spiked since the pandemic started: CDC

Marijuana emergency department visits for children, teens and young adults have spiked since the start of the pandemic more than three years ago, according to new data from the CDC.

This reported jump in cannabis-involved hospital admissions comes after a pre-2019 increase in youth emergency department visits, as pot legalization expanded across the country.

Then during the pandemic, the marijuana hospital visits among young people went even higher. The CDC said this week that large spikes in hospital visit rates were reported among children 10 years old and younger, and kids ages 11 to 14.

“These increases might stem from multiple factors, such as increased use as a coping mechanism for pandemic-related stressors, use of highly concentrated THC products, increased availability of cannabis in states with legal marketplaces, and increased unintentional ingestions associated with packaging that is appealing or confusing to youths,” the CDC wrote in its report.

“To protect against unintentional ingestions of cannabis, it is important for adults who use cannabis to safely and securely store cannabis products in places inaccessible to children,” the CDC added.

Among children 10 years old and younger, cannabis-involved hospital visit rates during the pandemic far exceeded those from before the pandemic.

The National Poison Data System data shows that from 2017 to 2021, cases of edible cannabis ingestion among children under 6 increased by 1,375%, with significant increases in toxicity and severity.

Overall, from the end of December 2018 to the start of this year, there were a total of 539,106 cannabis-involved emergency department visits among people under 25 (64.9 per 10,000 visits).

During the pandemic, the average number of weekly cannabis hospital visits for children 10 and under ranged from 30.4 to 71.5 per 10,000 visits — compared with the pre-pandemic periods of 18.7 to 23.2 per 10,000 visits.

Cannabis hospital visit rates among children ages 11 to 14 also increased. Among kids ages 11 to 14, the mean number of weekly cannabis-involved hospital visits during the pandemic ranged from 69.8 to 209.3 per 10,000 visits — compared with 90.5 to 138.5 during the pre-pandemic period.

Last June, the FDA released a consumer alert warning that THC-containing edibles are easily mistaken for products that might appeal to children and recommended that these products be kept in a safe place out of children’s reach, such as in a locked box.

“Communities, schools, and coalitions (such as Drug-Free Community coalitions) can implement evidence-based youth substance use prevention interventions to address changing patterns of cannabis use during the pandemic,” the CDC wrote. “These local organizations are best suited to meet youths in their communities and tailor interventions to effectively decrease cannabis use.

“States can implement or strengthen packaging restrictions to decrease youth appeal (e.g., plain packaging, comprehensive labeling, and more prominent warning labels),” the CDC added. “In combination, these strategies can help mitigate concerning rises in cannabis-involved ED visits among young persons.”