Association of unintentional pediatric exposures with decriminalization of marijuana in the United States. 2014

George S Wang, and Genie Roosevelt, and Marie-Claire Le Lait, and Erin M Martinez, and Becki Bucher-Bartelson, and Alvin C Bronstein, and Kennon Heard
Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, Denver Health, Denver, CO; University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO. Electronic address: george.wang@childrenscolorado.org.

OBJECTIVE We compare state trends in unintentional pediatric marijuana exposures, as measured by call volume to US poison centers, by state marijuana legislation status. METHODS A retrospective review of the American Association of Poison Control Centers National Poison Data System was performed from January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2011. States were classified as nonlegal if they have not passed legislation, transitional if they enacted legislation between 2005 and 2011, and decriminalized if laws passed before 2005. Our hypotheses were that decriminalized and transitional states would experience a significant increase in call volume, with more symptomatic exposures and more health care admissions than nonlegal states. RESULTS There were 985 unintentional marijuana exposures reported from 2005 through 2011 in children aged 9 years and younger: 496 in nonlegal states, 93 in transitional states, and 396 in decriminalized states. There was a slight male predominance, and the median age ranged from 1.5 to 2.0 years. Clinical effects varied, with neurologic effects the most frequent. More exposures in decriminalized states required health care evaluation and had moderate to major clinical effects and critical care admissions compared with exposures from nonlegal states. The call rate in nonlegal states to poison centers did not change from 2005 to 2011. The call rate in decriminalized states increased by 30.3% calls per year, and transitional states had a trend toward an increase of 11.5% per year. CONCLUSIONS Although the number of pediatric exposures to marijuana reported to the National Poison Data System was low, the rate of exposure increased from 2005 to 2011 in states that had passed marijuana legislation.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007223 Infant A child between 1 and 23 months of age. Infants
D007880 Legislation, Drug Laws concerned with manufacturing, dispensing, and marketing of drugs. Drug Laws,Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act,Narcotic Laws,Drug Legislation,Drug Law,Law, Drug,Law, Narcotic,Laws, Drug,Laws, Narcotic,Narcotic Law
D008297 Male Males
D011039 Poison Control Centers Facilities which provide information concerning poisons and treatment of poisoning in emergencies. Centers, Poison Control,Center, Poison Control,Control Centers, Poison,Poison Control Center
D002188 Cannabis The plant genus in the Cannabaceae plant family, Urticales order, Hamamelidae subclass. The flowering tops are called many slang terms including pot, marijuana, hashish, bhang, and ganja. The stem is an important source of hemp fiber. Bhang,Ganja,Hashish,Hemp,Cannabis indica,Cannabis sativa,Hemp Plant,Marihuana,Marijuana,Bhangs,Cannabi,Ganjas,Hashishs,Hemp Plants,Hemps,Plant, Hemp,Plants, Hemp
D002648 Child A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL. Children
D002675 Child, Preschool A child between the ages of 2 and 5. Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012189 Retrospective Studies Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons. Retrospective Study,Studies, Retrospective,Study, Retrospective

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