Tag Archives: JAMA Pediatrics

Teens

It’s way to easy for kids to buy marijuana online

One of the major criticisms of expanded marijuana legalization is that it makes the drug more accessible to minors. A recent study  published in JAMA Pediatrics shows that has turned out to be a valid concern. Because of this problem, please tell  your representatives in Congress and the Senate to oppose the SAFER Banking Act.

We also urge our followers to write the DEA and DOJ and tell them not to reschedule marijuana, using the address published by SAM.  if you have not done so.  More than 100 victims of marijuana  from many states already sent such a letter to the DEA and DOJ on December 2nd.

The JAMA Study

“Pediatricians and caregivers must be aware of the widespread availability of online dispensaries and potential dissemination of marijuana to minors.”

~ Access to Marijuana by Minors Via Online Dispensaries, JAMA Pediatrics

According to the study, which looked at online weed sales in 32 states, internet dispensaries are woefully negligent when it comes to age verification safeguards that are supposed to prevent underage purchases.  To understand what to today’s marijuana looks like in its many disguises, go to THCphotos.org.

This new information should serve as a wake-up call for anyone who thinks that making marijuana available everywhere for adults won’t have an effect on children.

Troubling Findings

By nearly every measure, online cannabis dispensaries are failing at keeping the drug away from adolescents and teens. Of the 80 internet weed shops looked at by researchers:

  • Only 70% asked website visitors if they were of legal age. The standard is 100%.
  • Less than 4% asked for a specific birthday.
  • NONE of the dispensaries “required verified age documentation to enter the website”.
  • Just 1 in 5 required formal age verification at any stage in order to purchase a cannabis product.
  • 1 in 4 would deliver marijuana across state lines.
  • Of those, 95% would deliver their products even if the other states had different laws.
  • 84% of the cannabis stores accepted non-traceable payment methods such as cash, prepaid debit cards, or even digital cryptocurrency.
  • The authors noted that this allows “youth to hide their transactions”.

Verification failures at so many dispensaries demonstrate just how egregious the lack of regulation, enforcement, and accountability is within the cannabis industry.

Targeting Youth or Turning a Blind Eye?

Despite most of the dispensaries listing their policies prohibiting sales to minors, there was not much done in practice to prevent it. Worse still, it seems as if some of the products were aimed specifically at young people.

The vast majority offered marijuana edibles such as candies, gummies, chocolates, baked goods, and sweetened drinks. Among these, 67% used colorful packaging that could be attractive to minors.  California’s AB 1207 addressed the problem, but Governor Newsom vetoed the bill — under pressure from the cannabis industry.

More Marijuana Means More Problems

“The study shows what we have been warning about for years. Marijuana use was on a decades-long decline thanks to the concerted work of prevention efforts, but the legalization and commercialization of marijuana is threatening to erase those public health gains.”

~ Dr. Kevin Sabet, President and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and former Senior Drug Policy Advisor to the White House

A study published in the March 2023 edition of Addictive Behaviors found that youth marijuana use increases after state recreational marijuana is legalized.

Key findings include:

  • Past-month cannabis use went among adolescents and young adults.
  • Among young people, the perceived risk of harm went down.
  • Use increased, but treatment admissions for Cannabis Use Disorder decreased.

Dr. Sabet continues, saying, “There is no question that CUD is stigmatized and proponents of legalization have told us that legalizing marijuana will lead to more and better treatment options for those struggling with a substance abuse disorder. This study shows that in reality, legalization normalizes use and creates heavy users who are less likely to seek help.”

Good Drug Policy

“The goal of good drug policy should be to decrease access to addictive substances and increase access to treatment. Studies like this one show that legalizing drugs makes matters worse, especially for kids.”

~ Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions.

California, Child Endangerment, Colorado, Washington

Mass Illnesses Due to Marijuana Edibles, Brownies, Candy

Mass Illness from Marijuana Edibles in San Francisco

There’s more potential for overdose from edibles than smoked marijuana, although the teen in Seattle who jumped to his death last December did it after smoking pot for the first time.  Two shocking incidents in California suggest that overdose emergencies will increase if that states vote to legalize marijuana in November.  Here’s a summary of recent cases of toxicity from edibles:

    • 19 people were hospitalized in San Francisco on August 7 from THC, after attending a quinceañera party.  The source is believed be marijuana-infused candies, perhaps gummy bears. Several children were among those poisoned, one as young as six.  A 9-year-old had severe difficulty breathing.
    • A JAMA Pediatrics article explains the dramatic rise in children’s hospitalizations related to marijuana in Colorado since legalization.  In 10 cases, the product was not in a child-resistant container; in 40 scenarios (34%) there was poor child supervision or product storage.  Edible products were responsible for 51 (52% ) of exposures.  The report claimed that child-resistant packaging has not been as effective in reducing kids’ unintended exposure to pot as hoped.
    • The report mentions the death of one child, an 11-month-old baby.  Nine of the children had symptoms so serious that they ended up in the intensive care unit of Colorado Children’s  Hospital.  Two children needed breathing tubes.

      HamzaWarsame
      Hamza Warsame, 16,  jumped 6 stories after smoking pot in Seattle in December. Photo: Seattle Times, from the Warsame Family
    • The state of Washington has a similar problem with edibles, as reported on the King County Health Department’s website.  From 2013 to May 2015, there were 46 cases of children’s intoxications related to marijuana edibles reported in Washington.  However, reporting is voluntary and the state estimates that  number could be much higher.
    •  In May, a father plead guilty to deliberately giving his 4-year-old daughter marijuana-laced cake in Vancouver, Washington.  He was sentenced to two years in prison.

      edible-marijuana-image1-july-15-2015
      Intoxication from marijuana edibles has risen steadily since legalization. Source: King County Department of Health. Top photo: AP
    • In Hingham, MA, there was a 911  related to teen girl who ingested marijuana edibles.  The candies were in a package labelled Conscious Creations, which didn’t disclose ingredients.   Massachusetts has a medical marijuana program, but it is not clear how or to whom they were sold or dispensed.
    • July, 2016: A California man was arrested for giving candy laced with marijuana to a 6-year-old boy and an 8-year-old boy; the 6-year-old was hospitalized for marijuana poisoning.
    • July, 2016: Police in Arizona arrested a mother for allegedly giving her 11- and 12-year-old children gummy candy infused with marijuana. Police say the marijuana-infused candy was originally purchased by an Arizona medical marijuana user, but was illegally transferred to the mother in question.  (State medical marijuana programs have poor track records of assuring the “medicine” goes to whom it is intended.)
    • On April 27, a Georgia woman was arrested after a 5- year-old said he ate a marijuana cake for breakfast.  The child was taken to the hospital for treatment following the incident; according to officials, his pulse was measured at over 200 beats per minute.

Edible marijuana poses a “unique problem,” because “no other drug is infused into a palatable and appetizing form” – such as cookies, brownies and candy.    Many household items cause poisonings, but marijuana edibles are different because they’re made to look appealing and they appeal to children.

Child Endangerment, Featured, News Articles

Edible Pot Tricks Children

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In Colorado and California, marijuana entrepreneurs have used deceptive packaging which is enticing to youngsters.  Many candies look like children’s favorites, such Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Gummy Bears.  At least nine incidences of marijuana poisoning in children have occurred in Colorado this year.  The problem of pot candy is expanding to other states, as the word is out and a “ganja-preneurial” spirit spreads.

There’s a huge business behind pushing cookies, candies and edible forms of marijuana, considered to be safer than smoked or vaporized pot, but these products take longer to have an effect and often lead people to ingest larger amounts to get their “high.” Continue reading Edible Pot Tricks Children →