To a child on the prowl for sweets, that brownie, cookie or bear-shaped candy left on the kitchen counter is just asking to be gobbled up. But in states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use, notably Colorado, that child may end up with more than a sugar high. A study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics says that in Colorado the rates of marijuana exposure in young children, many of them toddlers, have increased 150 percent since 2014, when recreational marijuana products, like sweets, went on the market legally. [continues 225 words]
Accidental Consumption Leading to Hospital Trips Colorado's laws on labeling and child-resistant packaging have been unable to stop an increase of young kids ending up in the emergency room after accidentally consuming marijuana, according to a new study published online Monday in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics. The study - led by a doctor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus - found that emergency room visits and poison-control calls for kids 9 and younger who consumed pot in Colorado jumped after recreational marijuana stores opened. About twice as many kids visited the Children's Hospital Colorado emergency room per year in 2014 and 2015 as did in years before the opening of recreational marijuana stores, according to the study. Annual poison-control cases increased fivefold, the study found. [continues 473 words]
"Being a parent in today's world is more difficult and complex than ever before. Our children are exposed to external pressures at unprecedented levels and social media culture has had more influence on young people's lives than many of us can fully understand." In a May letter to parents, Chief Const. Bob Rich from the Abbotsford Police Department addressed the issue of drug use among teens. This is causing deaths of vulnerable young people and must be stopped. It's a tough conversation but one that parents must have with their kids. If we don't give them the information they need, they will go to others and that is likely to be their friends who are no more knowledgeable than they are. [continues 594 words]
Same Rule Applies to Medical Marijuana Products As Well According to a May report on the Today Show, there has been a spike in children going to the emergency room after consuming edible products containing marijuana, and the show noted that doctors and police alike want to raise awareness that children can be hurt by accidentally consuming such products. This is a concern in any state that has legalized medical marijuana, including Arizona. Marijuana-infused food products, or edibles, provide an option to patients who can't or don't want to smoke their prescribed marijuana. Such products can come in a variety of shapes and sizes - brownies, cookies, candies, gummy candies and more. [continues 254 words]
Re: Border to seize marijuana treatment for epileptic kids - July 6 My heart goes out to the parents of these little children who will be stopped from taking the marijuana oil that is so necessary for them to have a life without seizures and to play like any other kid. Our government should be ashamed denying these little angels a normal life. Why can't the government just help instead of hindering their parents? Perhaps they need to walk in their shoes for a change. [continues 81 words]
Survey Finds Teens Still Support Smoking Weed, Despite Admitting Its Many Risks Three-in-four teens who had tried pot in B.C. will likely have missed school in the past month. Compared to their peers, these pot smokers will have a much higher likelihood of suffering a serious injury or concussion, have lower mental health, and a much higher chance of committing suicide - among a large list of negative outcomes teens in B.C. have themselves identified. These are the findings from a McCreary Centre Society report on pot use based on a survey of teens in B.C. high schools. It's a snapshot that reveals - despite the many touted benefits of cannabis - how the drug is negatively affecting the adolescent members of society. [continues 376 words]
My nieces and nephews are getting to the age where kids experiment with drugs and it's scary. How do you discourage them when movies and TV make it all look so interesting and fun? Damn you to hell, Seth Rogen! I am especially at a loss because I've never understood drugs in the first place. I was not a drug user for a few reasons, the first being absolute fear. My mom did a great job of cobbling together every terrible drug story she'd ever heard and regaling us with them as we ate our beans and wieners at the dinner table: "This boy, he did 'The Pot' one time and he got real high and then he put the cat in the oven cuz he thought it was a turkey." Such stories made me fearful both of drugs and of wieners. [continues 677 words]
My nieces and nephews are getting to the age where kids experiment with drugs and it's scary. How do you discourage them when movies and TV make it all look so interesting and fun? Damn you to hell, Seth Rogen! I am especially at a loss because I've never understood drugs in the first place. I was not a drug user for a few reasons - the first of which was absolute fear. My mom did a great job of cobbling together every terrible drug story she'd ever heard and regaling us with them as we ate our beans and wieners at the dinner table: "This boy, he did 'The Pot' one time and he got real high and then he put the cat in the oven cuz he thought it was a turkey." Such stories made me fearful both of drugs and of wieners. [continues 687 words]
New data shows that there are regions in post-marijuana-legalization Colorado that are in big trouble. Regions that refused to allow pot shops experienced a decrease in use or it stayed flat. Where commercial marijuana is plentiful, there has been a great increase in use among students. The data showed that the proportion of Grade 12 students who had used marijuana in the past month was, on average, more than 50 per cent higher than the value reported for their age group nationally. For example: Students in Boulder and Broomfield area were 98 per cent above the national average; Garfield, Pitkin, Eagle, Summit, Grand (79 per cent higher); Pueblo (70 per cent); and Denver (56 per cent). Pamela McColl, SAM Canada, Vancouver [end]
Families Upset After Canadian Border Agents Move to Stop Marijuana Oil Shipments Parents of children suffering from epilepsy say a recent move by Canadian border agents to seize shipments of medical marijuana oil from an American company could have a catastrophic effect on their children's health. The families have sent letters to the federal government pleading for the border to allow shipments of Charlotte's Web, a type of marijuana oil that has been touted by some researchers as an effective therapy for hard-to-treat forms of epilepsy. [continues 631 words]
With California poised to vote on marijuana legalization in November, some may be asking, "What effect would it have on our youths?" If Colorado is any measure, youth use may not rise. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment surveyed teens about marijuana habits and found that marijuana use has decreased 5 percentage points since 2009. Then, 43 percent said they had used marijuana, while now that number is at 38 percent. Colorado's voters legalized marijuana for adults with a ballot measure in 2012. [continues 278 words]
DENVER (AP) - Marijuana use among Colorado high-schoolers has not increased since legalization, the state Health Department reported Monday in a new batch of youth survey results. The 2015 Healthy Kids Colorado survey of about 17,000 middle and high school students across the state showed that 21.2 percent of high school students reported that they currently use pot. That's just a hair below the national average, which was 21.7 percent. Since voters approved recreational marijuana use for those 21 and older in 2012, Colorado has worked to keep youths off of pot. Campaigns have said the drug will keep them from achieving their full potential and reminded them their brains aren't fully developed until they reach 25. [continues 69 words]
In a recent Associated Press article "Colorado: Youth pot use hasn't gone up since legalization" the main idea was that overall in Colorado marijuana use among high schoolers has remained stagnant at 21 percent, just below the national average of 22 percent. The Pueblo for Positive Impact group found the rate in Pueblo is much higher at 30.1 percent among high schoolers and decided to post several posts to its Facebook page, emphasizing this huge difference. The rate in Pueblo is the highest in the state and was for the past survey as well. I have recently been blocked by the group for posing links to the past survey showing Pueblo use is actually declining since dispensaries were opened in the state. [continues 93 words]
The biggest single risk in legalizing marijuana in 2012 - with no other issue even close - was the effect it might have on adolescents. Would usage skyrocket among this group? Teens who use drugs are more likely than adults to end up dependent on them and to suffer other long-term consequences, such as academic failure. If it can be shown for sure that legalization pushes more kids into pot use, most arguments on behalf of legal pot would be overwhelmed. That's why the recent data from the state's Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, which shows marijuana use among high school students has not increased and is roughly the same as the national average, is so heartening. Even the most ardent opponents of legalization ought to pleased, since the prospect of repealing Amendment 64 in the near future is approximately zero. We're going to be living with the consequences of legalization for the time being, both good and bad. [continues 318 words]
Rates of cannabis use among Colorado's teenagers are essentially unchanged in the years since the state's voters legalised marijuana in 2012, new survey data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment shows. Last year, 21 per cent of Colorado youths had used marijuana in the past 30 days. That rate is slightly lower than the national average and down slightly from the 25 per cent who used marijuana in 2009, before legalisation. The survey was based on a random sample of 17,000 middle and high school students in Colorado. [continues 337 words]
21% Figure Just Below National Average DENVER (AP) - Marijuana use among Colorado high schoolers has not increased since legalization. That's according to the state Health Department, which released a new batch of youth survey results Monday. The 2015 survey of about 17,000 middle and high school students across the state showed that about 21 percent of high school students reported that they currently use pot. That's just a hair below the national average, which was almost 22 percent. [continues 64 words]
One out of every five Colorado teens admits having used marijuana in the past month, but that rate has not increased since pot was legalized in the state and is in line with the national average, according to a new report from the state Health Department. Among the other findings of the 2015 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, released Monday: The large majority of Colorado middle and high school students - 62 percent - say they have never used marijuana. Alcohol is the drug of choice among Colorado teens, with 30 percent of kids surveyed saying they drank within the previous month. [continues 593 words]
People in Over- 55 Age Group Are NZ's Most Prolific Users Cannabis is one of the most widely available illicit drugs in New Zealand - but what impact is it having on our wellbeing? Research from the 2015 New Zealand Health Survey shows that 11 per cent of people aged over 15 have used cannabis in the past 12 months, with one third of this group using it at least weekly. The survey shows it is most widely used by people aged 15 to 24, with 23 per cent of this group having used it in the past year - but when it comes to regularity of use, the over- 55s are the most prolific users. [continues 458 words]
The coming debate over whether California should legalize marijuana would be improved by the use of the ultimate mind-expanding drug. By which we mean data. Opponents of legalization are going to say that allowing recreational marijuana would end up harming young people. But is that true, or is it supposition or propaganda? The question has been tackled by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They used data gathered over a 12-year span by a study called the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Their findings were published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. [continues 393 words]
Re: We must protect teenagers from new pot laws, Opinion May 26 Calvin White's well-articulated article on the proposed legalization of marijuana informs us that, "Young habitual users are usually less present, less motivated to excel, less comfortable with their natural state, and less able to create meaningful engagement with peers and studies." Sadly, this is an all-too-accurate description of a teenager with his cellphone. Do we really need another readily available drug to keep our teens disengaged from the rest of the world? Simon Jensen, Cobourg [end]
