Increase in cannabis poisonings in kids under 5 in San Diego: Rady Children's Hospital

Doctors at Rady Children's Hospital said they've treated a child as young as 8-months old for cannabis poisoning.

Carol Green knows the deadly dangers of cannabis all too well. She said her son died as a result of cannabis psychosis.

“I just want to make sure that no other parent has to go through the hell that we had to go through,” Green said.

The heartache of losing her son four years ago is fueling Green to share her story.

She said her son Michael was an San Diego State computer science major, dealing with anxiety issues, when friends suggested he smoke marijuana to help.

“For Michael, it started out with some paranoia. He started not trusting people. He started seeing things. He started worrying about conspiracy theories,” explained Green.

Michael wasn't a young kid, but the message remains the same.

The dangers of cannabis poisoning are very real.

Now — even children under 5 years old are being diagnosed.

“Across the country there have been deaths related to kids eating THC products. Fortunately at Rady, we’ve seen no deaths," said Dr. Natalie Laub, a pediatrician and cannabis researcher.

Dr. Laub said after cannabis was legalized in 2016, from then through 2019, they would typically see 15 to 20 kids per year at Rady Children's hospital who had ingested edibles.

Now, she said the hospital is regularly seeing about 100 children a year getting sick from eating edibles or exposure to vape pen liquid they find at home.

“These are products purchased legally, and unfortunately they look like everyday food,  so we see cannabis eaten in home because a child mistook it for something okay to eat, " explained Dr. Laub.

Dr. Laub's findings mirror numbers from a CDC report released last week.

And while she said the long term effects aren't known for children under 5 years old, research has shown regular use in kids and young adults can have a profound mental impact.

“We’re seeing kids and young adults who use regularly have higher rates of anxiety and mood conditions. And some concern that use of cannabis as a teen can put you at risk for bipolar or schizophrenia as an adult," Dr. Laub said.

Carol Green is keeping her son's memory alive and hoping to help others  by supporting legislation that keeps cannabis from being marketed and packaged to entice kids.

"We just have to have some guardrails up so that people know what this is, that they know that there are consequences," Green said.