Cannabis Legalization and Resource Use for Ingestions by Young Children

In conjunction with widening legalization, there has been a rapid rise in unintentional cannabis ingestions in young children. We sought to determine if the legal status of recreational cannabis was associated with resource use in young children with cannabis poisoning.

This retrospective cross-sectional study of the Pediatric Health Information System included emergency department encounters between January 2016 and April 2023 for children <6 years of age with a diagnosis indicating cannabis ingestion. The primary exposure was recreational cannabis legalization status in the state in which the encounter occurred. We used logistic regression models to determine the association of recreational cannabis legality with resource utilization outcomes, adjusting for demographic covariates.

We included 3649 children from 47 hospitals; 29% of encounters occurred in places in which recreational cannabis was legal. Compared with environments in which recreational cannabis was illegal, cannabis-legal locations had lower uses of advanced neuroimaging (24% vs 35%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.65; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.55-0.77), lumbar puncture (1.6% vs 3.8%; aOR, 0.42; 95% CI: 0.24-0.70), ICU admission (7.9% vs 11%; aOR, 0.71; 95% CI: 0.54-0.93), and mechanical ventilation (0.8% vs 2.9%; aOR, 0.30; 95% CI: 0.14-0.58). Urine testing was more common in places in which recreational cannabis was legal (71% vs 58%; aOR, 1.87; 95% CI: 1.59-2.20).

State-level legalization of recreational cannabis was associated with a significant decrease in the utilization of advanced medical resources in cases of cannabis intoxication in children. These findings suggest the need for a focus on policies and procedures to minimize invasive testing in cases of cannabis intoxication in children.