Pubdate: Sat, 24 Jan 2015
Source: Daily Freeman (Kingston, NY)
Copyright: 2015 The Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.dailyfreeman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3269
Author: Gene Johnson, The Associated Press

POT-RELATED POISON CONTROL CALLS UP IN WASHINGTON, COLORADO

(AP) - Marijuana-related calls to poison control centers in 
Washington and Colorado have spiked since the states began allowing 
legal sales last year, with an especially troubling increase in calls 
concerning young children.

But it's not clear how much of the increase might be related to more 
people using marijuana, as opposed to people feeling more comfortable 
to report their problems now that the drug is legal for adults over 21.

New year-end data being presented to Colorado's Legislature next week 
show that the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center received 151 
calls for marijuana exposure last year, the first year of retail 
recreational pot sales. That was up from 88 calls in 2013 and 61 in 
2012, the year voters legalized pot. Calls to the Washington Poison 
Center for marijuana exposures jumped by more than half, from 158 in 
2013 to 246 last year. Public health experts say they are especially 
concerned about young children accidentally eating marijuana edibles. 
Calls involving children nearly doubled in both states: to 48 in 
Washington involving children 12 or under, and to 45 in Colorado 
involving children 8 or under.

"There's a bit of a relaxed attitude that this is safe because it's a 
natural plant, or derived from a natural plant," Dr. Alex Garrard, 
clinical managing director of the Washington Poison Center. "But this 
is still a drug. You wouldn't leave Oxycontin lying around on a 
countertop with kids around, or at least you shouldn't." Around half 
of Washington's calls last year involved hospital visits, with most 
of the patients being evaluated and released from an emergency room, 
Garrard said. Ten people were admitted to intensive care units - half 
of them under 20 years old.

Children who wind up going to the hospital for marijuana exposure can 
find themselves subject to blood tests or spinal taps, Garrard said, 
because if they seem lethargic and parents don't realize they got 
into marijuana, doctors might first check for meningitis or other 
serious conditions.

Dr. Leslie Walker, chief of adolescent medicine at Seattle Children's 
Hospital, said her facility has had cases where young children needed 
to be intubated because they were having trouble breathing after 
consuming marijuana - a terrifically scary experience for parents.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom