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This is The Drug Report’s Friday Fact report - Rise in Marijuana Edible Exposures Among Young Children in Illinois Since Legalization

The Illinois Poison Center reported on the number of unintentional exposures to marijuana edibles among young children from 2019 to 2023. Here’s what they found: 

Number of Marijuana Edible Exposures Among Young Illinois Children by Year 

Illinois legalized the personal use of marijuana and commercialized it on January 1st, 2020. Following legalization, the number of marijuana edible exposures among young children in Illinois increased. After legalization, <1-year-olds had an increase of 20%, 1-year-olds had an increase of 83.3%, 2-year-olds had an increase of 87.8%, 3-year-olds had an increase of 103.7%, 4-years-olds had an increase of 13.2%, and 5-year-olds had an increase of 66.7%. 

As more states legalize marijuana, marijuana exposures to young children continue to rise throughout the country. Among the 10 states with the highest prevalence of past-year marijuana use among youth, 9 had legalized recreational marijuana. Additionally, SAM created an interactive map showing instances of THC hospitalizations and ED visits reported in local news outlets. The map shows any THC-related story, including Delta-8 THC and Delta-9 THC. Click here to view the map.

Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is an alliance of organizations and individuals dedicated to a health-first approach to marijuana policy. We are professionals working in mental health and public health. We are bipartisan. We are medical doctors, lawmakers, treatment providers, preventionists, teachers, law enforcement officers and others who seek a middle road between incarceration and legalization. Our commonsense, third-way approach to marijuana policy is based on reputable science and sound principles of public health and safety.