The quite scary reality ER docs are seeing as teen cannabis edible use rose by 43% amid legalization
High school just got a whole new meaning.A shocking study out of Canada found that adolescent use of cannabis-laced edibles shot up 43% in the year after the country legalized dried weed.A similar trend is underway south of the border, with US doctors warning about a “quite scary” uptick in young people flooding emergency rooms dazed, confused and totally unaware that those innocent-looking gummies weren’t just candy.The eye-popping findings, published today in JAMA Network Open, come from researchers studying how Canada’s 2018 legalization of dried weed impacted youth consumption — especially when it comes to edibles disguised as kid-friendly snacks.To find out, the team pored over survey responses from more than 106,000 students in grades 7 through 11, collected between 2018 and 2022.The results are a serious buzzkill for parental peace of mind. Legalization was linked to a 26% jump in overall adolescent cannabis use — with edible use soaring 43% and smoking climbing 34%.Even more troubling, co-use of alcohol and cannabis spiked 28% among young people.Researchers also found that students were less likely to believe that occasional cannabis use can be harmful. “There are no surprises in this study,” Dr.
Elise Perlman, a pediatric emergency physician at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New York, told The Post.“It’s nice to see some numbers showing exactly what we’re seeing in the emergency room, which is that legalization of THC products coincides with an increased number of children or adolescents using these products because they have become so common in households,” she added. In the US, marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, but 39 states and DC allow medical use, and 24 states plus the capital have given the green light for recreational use.That wave of legalization has brought with it a flood of cannabis edibles — often packaged to look like popular brands of cookies, candies and other snacks kids love.It’s led to a...