IWK health officials 'trying to get the word out' about dangers of cannabis edibles to kids

Health officials at the IWK Children's Hospital in Halifax are urging caution when it comes to edible cannabis products and young children in the Maritimes.

New regulations for cannabis edibles and topicals will come into effect on Thursday across the country. Products likely won't hit shelves until December of this year because of Health Canada's 60-day review period for new products. 

Children, in particular, are very vulnerable to negative effects from edibles, said Laurie Mosher, clinical leader of the IWK Regional Poison Centre.

Mosher spoke with CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin from Halifax. 

'A big concern'

"They love sweets so they can ingest quite a bit of the edible. And the other thing is that children get much more drowsy than adults do. So that's a big concern, that they can get very drowsy and have difficulty breathing," she said. 

Even without legalization, the hospital reported a flood of calls in March to its poison helpline, she said. With legalization, they're only expecting the line to become busier.

"Most of the calls that we've received so far are related to homemade edibles, gummi bears, but we do expect when there's more cannabis edibles in people's households and available, that there's going to be an increased exposure," Mosher said. 

"We're trying to get the word out before edibles are sold." 

Label and lock

Mosher is encouraging Maritimers who will be purchasing the newly legalized products to keep them under lock and key and away from children's reach.

"You can use a gun cabinet, you can use a lock box — anything you can lock and the children can't easily open," she said. 

"Children can climb and they can reach the cupboards above the fridge and other places."

The hospital cautions that children can't see the difference between a food product with cannabis and that same product without cannabis.

There are no immediate signs such as unpleasant sensations or taste to indicate to children to stop eating an item that contains cannabis.

Edibles take longer to digest, she said, which also poses a problem because people may not feel the effects for an hour or two.

"So there's always a temptation to take more and then all of a sudden it hits you," Mosher said.

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