Pediatric cannabis intoxication trends in the pre and post-legalization era
Neta Cohen, Laura Galvis Blanco, Adrienne L. Davis, Alyssa Kahane, Mathew Mathew, Suzanne Schuh, Inbal Kestenbom, Gidon Test, Yehonatan Pasternak, Ruud H J Verstegen, Benjamin Jung, Bryan Maguire, Soha Rached d’Astous, Maggie Rumantir, Yaron Finkelstein
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: On April 13, 2017, a bill to legalize cannabis was introduced to the Canadian Parliament and presented to the public. On October 17, 2018, Canada legalized recreational cannabis use. We assessed intoxication severity, reflected by ICU admission rates, risk factors and other characteristics in children who presented to the emergency department (ED) with cannabis intoxication, before and after legalization. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of children 0-18 years who presented to a pediatric ED between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2019 with cannabis intoxication. The pre-legalization period was defined from January 1, 2008 to April 12, 2017 and the peri-post legalization period from April 13, 2017 to December 31, 2019. RESULTS: = .02). CONCLUSIONS: The recreational cannabis legalization in Canada is associated with increased rates of severe intoxications in children. Edible ingestion is a strong predictor of ICU admission in the pediatric population.