The Courier Herald 15 December 2020
During the first 9 months of 2019, there were 338 total cases of marijuana exposures to the WAPC. This rose to 424 exposure cases in the first 9 months of 2020, an increase of 25 percent.
For the 0 to 5 age group, the number of cases rose from 85 to 122, a 44 percent increase; likewise, in the 21-59 age group, which suffered the most exposures in both 2019 and 2020, exposure reports increased from 128 to 154, a 20 percent jump.
According to the WAPC, close to half (47 percent) of all exposures in 2020 were due to edibles, whereas plant exposures contributed to about 27 percent of exposures. Concentrates accounted for another 15 percent of exposures, and other products the remaining 11 percent of cases.
The poison center lists 115 of the exposures for kids ages 0 to 5 to be unintentional; the rest were undefined, with the exception of one child supposedly using a cannabis product inappropriately, albeit unintentionally.
However, the vast plurality of exposures for the 21 to 59 age group (67) were due to intentional abuse; another 21 exposures were due to unintentional misuse.
The WAPC estimates roughly $266,000 total was saved due to 73 percent of THC exposure reports made to the center were managed at home, rather than at an ER.
READ MORE: https://www.courierherald.com/news/poison-center-sees-increase-in-cannabis-exposures-decrease-in-nicotine-exposures/
