(WWJ) -- As more states legalize marijuana, poison control is seeing an uptick in calls involving young children.
WWJ’s Dr. Deanna Lites reports that researchers analyzed calls to poison control centers from January 2017 through December 2019.
The study shows that the largest proportion of those calls -- nearly 37% -- are regarding children under the age of 10 who consumed edibles made from marijuana.
Additional research revealed that the poison center in Michigan received 270 calls related to those types of situations over the past year alone.
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Dr. Varun Vohra, a director at the Michigan Poison Center, says that kids are confusing the edibles for regular sweets.
“They are mistaking the edibles for just regular food items, like brownies, candies [or] snack foods,” Dr. Vohra explained.
Another concern regarding the edible products is that higher amount of THC.
“Traditional products that people might smoke might contain upwards of 30 milligrams of the delta-9 THC, so the active psychoactive component,” Dr. Vohra said. “Whereas those single food items could contain up to 10 to 20 times more.”
Symptoms in children may include lethargy, uncoordinated movements or trouble breathing.
While the push continues for child-resistant packaging, experts are reminding parents that these types of items should be securely locked away, where they are out of reach of children.