Cannabis-related hospitalizations rose among older adults in Toronto, Canada following the legalization of edibles and cannabis flower.
Older adults are susceptible to cannabis poisoning for a variety of reasons, including being more likely to take medications that can interact with marijuana.
Experts say you can reduce the risk of cannabis poisoning by learning about proper dosages.
Cannabis-related hospitalizations among older adults surged after Canada legalized the retail sale of marijuana, according to recent research.
A research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine in May found that older adults living in Ontario made more trips to the emergency room for cannabis poisoning between October 2018 and December 2022 than they did in the years leading up to cannabis legalization in Canada.1
During the eight-year study period, there were 2,322 emergency room visits among those 65 or older. Nearly 17% of people had also been drinking alcohol when they went to the emergency department, 38.5% had cancer, and 6.5% had dementia .
The data show that, compared to the number of cannabis poisoning hospitalizations between January 2015 and September 2018, ER trips among older adults doubled after cannabis flower was legalized in October 2018. The rate tripled after edibles became legal in January 2020.
“This is the tip of the iceberg because we’re only capturing emergency department visits,” lead author Nathan Stall MD, PhD , a geriatrician and general internal medicine provider at Sinai Health and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, told Health . “Some people may not visit the emergency department or seek care at all.”
For older adults, he added, cannabis poisoning is “not a benign phenomenon.”Here’s what you need to know about cannabis poisoning, what’s behind the trend, and how you or your loved ones can lower the risk of a cannabis-related ER trip. Cannabis products What Is Cannabis Poisoning? Cannabis poisoning—also known as cannabis toxicity or marijuana poisoning—largely occurs when someone uses or ingests too much delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main psychoactive component responsible for creating a high.2“This is a chemical overdose or poisoning,” Sherry Yafai, MD , board-certified emergency medicine physician at Providence Saint John’s Medical […]
Cannabis-Related Hospitalizations Among Older Adults Surge Following Legalization of Marijuana
