Edible Marijuana Driving Emergency Tours in Colorado, Study Reports – Rolling Stone



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One of the main arguments of opponents of the legalization of marijuana is that legal cannabis will endanger the American youth and lead to an exponential increase in the number of injuries and deaths.. Needless to say, it is unlikely, it is the least that can be said. most of the evidence shows that if cannabis is consumed responsibly, one of the only significant health risks is the possibility of Family Guy funny. But the key word here is "responsible" and apparently, some people are not responsible with regard to food consumption.

According to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine On Tuesday, in the state of Colorado, a surprisingly high number of emergency room visits over a four-year period were due to the ingestion of marijuana in the form of edible products. (eg candies or pastries). Researchers at the UCHealth Hospital of the University of Colorado have assessed the frequency of cannabis-related emergency room visits in the state of Colorado after the adoption of the US. a measure of 2012 legalizing the sale of marijuana. Between 2012 and 2016, the study examined nearly 10,000 emergency hospital visits that, according to the patients, were related to cannabis, about a quarter of which were actually cannabis-related. .

Following the legalization measure, the number of emergency visits related to cannabis has increased threefold. Although the majority of visits are due to old-fashioned smoking (ie, by inhalation), about 10% of cannabis-related emergency visits were attributable to edible products, even if they accounted for only a very small percentage of total cannabis sales. Consumed foods also appeared to be more frequently associated with extreme side effects. About 18% of people who came in after eating had reported "acute psychiatric symptoms" such as panic attacks and psychosis, compared with 10% who reported such symptoms after smoking marijuana.

To a certain extent, none of this is particularly surprising: although data show that marijuana use in Colorado has steadily increased before and after legalization, it makes sense that legalization increases the number of people willing to experiment with cannabis products – and that some of these people use these products in excess or consume them irresponsibly. This was originally the explanation of the main author, Monte Monte, the results of the study. "My starting hypothesis was that people were stacking doses and taking too much," said Monte at the following address: Rolling stone. "But after analyzing these data, I actually thought that the harmful symptoms of eating more lasted longer than when people smoked. This gives more opportunities to say, "I have to go to the ER."

But before starting to panic and throw your last batch of weed brownies into the trash, it should be noted that the study has obvious limitations. For starters, Erik Altieri, executive director of NORML, points out that the study is focused on one hospital (although large) in Colorado. "So it's far from a complete analysis that could indicate a trend," he said. Rolling stone. And like many other studies that have found a correlation between grass consumption and psychosis, this study did not establish a causal link, ie it did not distinction between edible and non-edible products. cause "Acute psychiatric symptoms" and the fact that people predisposed to such symptoms are simply more at risk of adverse effects.

In addition, Altieri says that these side effects, although they occur, are both rare and extremely temporary. "We support public education and improved labeling to inform consumers about how to consume responsibly and to determine doses, but it is important to note that the overwhelming majority of ER cases related solely to marijuana force the patient to simply be hydrated and abandoned within an hour or two, "Altieri said.

Ultimately, the result of this study, as well as many others, is that more research funded by the federal government is needed to determine the link between food products and undesirable psychiatric effects. Given that the US Department of Justice is currently blocking such research, it seems unlikely at the moment. In the meantime, if you are curious about edible products, you just need to be careful and not swallow a whole lot. weed blondies in one sitting.

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