DAYTON, Ohio – A decade ago, the Ohio Poison Centers received just 11 calls all year about marijuana edible exposure involving young kids. Last year, they received more than 50 times that number.
Child exposures to edible cannabis have been rising for years, long before Ohio voters legalized recreational marijuana in late 2023 and before recreational sales began in the state a year ago.
Even so, exposure calls surged in the first half of 2024, and they are starting to climb once again.
“We see one of these every day,” said Hannah Hays, medical director of the Central Ohio Poison Center and chief of toxicology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “Most of the cannabis poisonings in young children under 6 are edibles.”…