Colorado's legalization of cannabis for recreational use is associated with an increase in the number of young children who were treated for unintentional exposure to the drug, according to a study in JAMA Pediatrics.
The average rate of hospital admissions at Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora because of marijuana rose from 1.2 visits per 100,000 kids two years before legalization to
2.3 visits per 100,000 two years after legalization.
The annual rate of calls made to a poison control center involving pediatric exposure to marijuana increased by more than 400% during the same time period, according to the study.
Twenty-five states allow the medical use of marijuana, while Alaska, the District of Columbia, Oregon and Washington state have also passed laws allowing recreational use.
Study researchers found that while the country experienced an average annual increase of 19% in marijuana-related poison control cases involving children under age 10 between 2009 and 2015 the number of cases per year in Colorado rose an average of 34% during the same period.
