In upstate New York, more parents are calling poison control because their kids ate their edibles
If you’re a cannabis-consuming parent, doctors have a message for you: Keep your edibles away from your kids. Since 2019, the Upstate New York Poison Control Center has received four times as many calls as in previous years regarding children eating cannabis-infused products, CNY reports. Last March, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill legalizing adult-use recreational marijuana in New York. But it’s still illegal for kids, and law enforcement has been handing out endangerment charges to parents whose children unknowingly consume THC; many edibles are nearly indistinguishable from popular candy brands. “If you have the products in your house and you have a medication lockbox available, please, please, please, remember to put them in there,” said Dr. Vince Calleo, medical director of Upstate Poison Control. Calleo emphasized the dangers for those under 19, including loss of balance, trouble breathing, and in rarer cases, even seizures or a coma. —Alex Hinton
