Calls to poison control for children who've ingested cannabis-infused products are up about 350% since 2019, according to Connecticut Child Advocate Sarah Eagan. To help keep kids from accessing marijuana "edibles," a bill being considered by the state's Committee on Children would order the development of a public information campaign on safe storage.
Eagan says Connecticut's existing cannabis bill is one of the strongest in the country, with common sense safeguards, but, "if cannabis is stored in a way that's still accessible to children, then these safeguards won't amount to what we want them to be."
The new bill would require retailers to distribute a Department of Consumer Protection-developed document about safe storage and disposal of cannabis products and prescription drugs.
Eagan testified during the committee's online public hearing on Tuesday. She is also co-chair of the state's Child Fatality Review Panel, and emphasizes the need to protect kids from drugs and alcohol: "Out of about 106 deaths reviewed by (the panel), more than a third of those children had illicit substances in their system at the time of death. That includes cannabis, fentanyl, alcohol."
She says that doesn't necessarily mean those substances were the cause of those deaths, but the statistic underlines the need to pay attention to how drugs and alcohol are stored when children are nearby.
