Pubdate: Sun, 13 Apr 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Page: 1D
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Marshall Allen, ProPublica

THE REAL DANGERS OF MARIJUANA EDIBLES

I walked through clouds of marijuana smoke on a recent Friday night to
get to a Denver Nuggets basketball game. The sweet smell lingering in
the air reminded me less of a family event and more of the time I saw
AC/DC on "The Razor's Edge" tour at the old McNichols Sports Arena.

I grew up in Colorado, but it had been a while since I lived in the
state. I've never tried pot, but I graduated from the University of
Colorado at Boulder, which is famous for its annual 4/20 public pot
parties. But I saw more public pot use in my two-day visit to Lower
Downtown Denver than in years spent in Boulder.

Anyone over 21 can walk into a dispensary and load up on bud,
marijuana baked goods and candy.

The presence of legal pot right outside our hotel made people giddy at
the conference I attended- a meeting of the Association of Health Care
Journalists. At a reception, one woman passed a friend gummy bears
infused with THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive
ingredient in pot.

And a friend at the conference - I'll call him Dude because he shared
his story on condition I didn't name him-had a bad reaction after
eating too many marijuana gummy bears.

There's a running debate about whether pot should be legal for
recreational use, but the Colorado experiment is rapidly unfolding,
and it could help determine whether other states follow or shy away.

Two things stand out after my visit.

First, legal pot is attracting new and possibly naive users-creating
risks that some don't bargain for. Second, the public health system's
desire to protect people may be well-intentioned, but regulation and
efforts to track the health effects have a way to go.

The Dude gets high

Dude had only smoked pot twice in his life, about 25 years ago, but he
got curious and tried some pot gummy bears from the LoDoWellness
Center. Other than being infused with THC, they looked and tasted like
ordinary candy. Dude and a buddy paid $20 for a pack of 10.

Dude ate a gummy bear before dinner but felt nothing. So he popped
another during the meal. Nada. Ripoff, he assumed. So he ate a few
more-five total, he said - but still felt nothing. He fell asleep in
his hotel room at 11 p.m.

Two hours later, Dude awoke feeling like he was on a roller coaster.
His entire body tingled, and he was light-headed. He tried to stand,
but his left leg was so numb he couldn't walk to the bathroom. His
pounding heart strained his rib cage as waves of euphoria and anxiety
washed over him. He was terrified. Was this the high? An overdose? A
heart attack? A stroke?

Totally debilitated, Dude thought about calling an ambulance but
feared ending up in the ER or a police station. So he stayed put,
guzzled water, pulled a blanket over his head and clutched a pillow.
The symptoms lasted two hours, but he said it took a full day to feel
normal again.

Dude's experience and the open pot use I saw made me wonder about the
public health aspect of legalization. The foods with pot - typically
baked goods but also sodas, candies and even lasagna and pizza-cause
the most unpredictable highs because the effects aren't immediate and
potency varies, I learned.

In the case of gummy bears, one is considered a single
serving.

Haley Andrews, manager of the LoDoWellness Center, said about half the
shop's customers are marijuana novices, so the staff takes time to
educate every customer. Users should start with one 10-milligram gummy
bear, she said, and never consume more than 20 milligrams at a time.

Andrews said the gummy bear bottle's label listed the number of 10
milligrams servings inside and advises users to consume with caution
because the product had not been tested for contaminants or potency.
There is no mention of a delayed response, she said.

The Denver Post recently tested edibles and found that potency
labeling was often inaccurate. Plus, labels are often ignored. Dude
said his buddy held on to the package so he never looked at it. He
claims no one at the shop gave him any warnings about the dosage.

There were signs in the shop about how the different strains of pot
would make users feel- "calm" or "excited"- but Dude said he saw no
displays with advice for novice users, how many gummy bears are too
many, or warnings about a delayed response.

Andrews said the staff makes every effort to ensure people use the
products safely, but that it's possible Dude somehow slipped through
the cracks.

Generally, using too much pot isn't life-threatening. But a reaction
like Dude's could contribute to a heart attack or stroke for someone
who has health problems, said Dr. Tista Ghosh of the Colorado
Department of Public Health. She said recreational pot has been
unexpectedly popular with the older crowd.

"There's a lot we don't know," Ghosh said. "I feel like in some ways
we're like tobacco 50 years ago. More research needs to be done on
this from the public health and individual health perspective."

Dude later said he was glad to be in his hotel room when the reaction
hit him and not in a place where he could endanger others. Pot use has
contributed to car crashes and the recent death of a Wyoming college
student who jumped from a fourth floor hotel balcony.

Children are especially at risk. It's illegal to make candy or fruit
flavored cigarettes in the U.S., but pot candies and cookies in
Colorado have been some of the best-selling products. Although the
packaging is childproof, it doesn't stop kids once it's open.

Dr. Andrew Monte, a toxicologist at the University of Colorado Medical
School and Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, estimated that there
is a poison control call every few days about a child accidentally
eating marijuana products.

There also are reports from emergency room doctors, though no official
numbers yet, of children showing up to hospitals in extreme states of
drowsiness after accidentally consuming THC products, Monte said.
"What kid doesn't want a brownie or a gummy bear?" Monte said.

So far, there are no mandatory tests of the potency or purity of
recreational pot or THC food products, but they are scheduled to roll
out in the coming months under the rules to implement the new law. The
process is more complicated than it would be in other cases because
state regulators have not been able to rely on federal health
agencies. The federal government deems marijuana an illegal substance,
so it's not participating in the oversight, Ghosh said.

Ghosh said the Colorado regulators have had to start some things from
scratch, including finding labs that can be certified to test pot products.

Michael Elliott, executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group-
which represents marijuana centers, growers, and manufacturers of
infused products in Colorado-said there are clean kitchen standards
in place now, as well as licensing of facilities, financial
disclosures, security and more. The industry, he said, is committed to
robust regulation.

Yet Elliott, Ghosh and Monte agree that more needs to be done to
educate consumers. The state has put up a website with information
about the law and advice for parents, and is running a "Drive High,
Get a DUI" campaign, efforts that Elliott says are supported by the
marijuana industry.

Included on the website is a page titled "Using Too Much?" aimed at
people like Dude.

Public health also depends on people using common sense. Dude is a
smart guy, but he knows he was a dumb consumer when he gobbled the pot
gummy bears. Now, he regrets assuming that because marijuana was
legal, nothing could go wrong.

"I was ignorant about the whole thing," he told me later. "I am
embarrassed to admit that I just ate the gummy bears because it seemed
like fun.

"It was not."  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D