I do not want my children to have to go to an emergency room because they accidentally ate a pot brownie thinking it was just regular food. Legalization of marijuana has been a topic of debate that has been discussed for decades. In many states, marijuana is legal for medicinal use, and in some states it is even legal for recreational use. I think this is a great thing for our economy and our culture, but the topic still requires some attention. Now that marijuana is legal in many of our states, we must create a clear and strict set of guidelines for the regulation of the sale of marijuana products. I believe that the regulations that are in place now are weak, and because of that there has been a significant increase in the number of incidents of accidental ingestion, specifically in children. This is an issue of public safety. Based off of the information from my sources, I believe that the regulations that are in place now are weak, and that new ones must be implemented in order to keep a certain level of public safety. I believe the solution to this problem is that all marijuana related products must be sold in plain, child proof packaging, cannot be advertised in a way that would even remotely attract children, and that the product itself, not just the packaging, must be stamped with a symbol that shows that it contains marijuana. I believe that until something changes with the way we regulate the sale of these products, the number of incidents such as accidental ingestion and other related to it will continue to rise, quickly.

Time published the article, "More kids Accidentally Ingesting Marijuana Following New Drug Policies" written by Bonnie Rochman. In the article, Rochman addresses the increasing number of cases related to accidental marijuana ingestion. From January of 2005 through September 2009, there were no marijuana- related visits among 790 patients. After new policies regarding legalization and regulations, from Oct. 2009 to Dec. 2011 there were 14 children seen for marijuana exposure. This number is thought to be lower than the real amount of exposures. It's hard to keep track of exposures because parents don't want to admit or didn't know that their child had found their "stash" (Time). She poses the question "Were the cases directly due to the fact that young children were finding marijuana at home, or were the doctors simply more aware of the exposures because of the more relaxed policies?" (Time). I believe that the cases were indeed caused by children finding marijuana at home, and not just the doctors being more aware. The effects of marijuana ingestion have been known for decades, which is why many countries including our own use it for medicine.

In an article posted on The Denver Post, John Ingold relays information from Children's Hospital Colorado about the increase in marijuana edibles exposure. In this article, Ingold quotes Michael DiStefano, the medical director of Children's Hospital Colorado, saying "Nine kids so far this year (2014) have been brought into the hospital for accidental marijuana ingestion. Of those, seven were admitted to the hospital's intensive care unit  --  most commonly for either extreme sedation or agitation. One of those kids had breathing problems and required a respirator" (Ingold, John). This is an indicator of how serious of an issue this is. In the previous year, the hospital saw eight children who accidentally ingested marijuana. Between 2005 and 2013 only eight were admitted for accidental marijuana ingestion. (Ingold, John). The medical director of Children's Hospital Colorado thinks that this is a serious issue. I agree, some may not.

A popular health video blog called Healthcare Triage published a video on YouTube where the program's host, Aaron Carroll, talked about the severity of the issue of accidental marijuana exposure incidents in children. Aaron Carroll is a professor of pediatrics and the associate dean for research mentoring at Indiana University school of Medicine. Carroll's argument is that we need to look at the issue of child exposure to marijuana edibles in context. He claims that the rate of the increase of incidents of children ingesting marijuana edibles is huge, but it is relative to the number of incidents. He says that the rate of increasing incidents is just a "percentage scare" and that if people looked at just the number of incidents instead of the percentage increase, people wouldn't be so worried. In the video, he used information from multiple sources, including news reports and the National Poison Data system. He quoted "Between 2006 and 2013 the rate of exposure increased by 147.55 percent" from the Washington Post. Although this source isn't the most trustworthy because it is a news site which needs good ratings to keep running, he used facts from it, not fluff. He also quoted the National Poison Data System with "This number did increase from just under 100 to almost 250 in 2013." This is a much stronger, more reputable source. Compared to other problems such as child alcohol exposure or child exposure to medications, marijuana edible incidents happen much less frequently. Also he made a good point about how the jump from 100 to 250 incidents is a lot less scary of a statistic than saying that there was a 150% increase in incidents. All said and done, Carroll's main point is that the issue of marijuana edible exposure to children is a much less severe issue than what people think; largely based on the assumption that people think it's a severe issue only because of the percentage increase. I strongly disagree with this because the best indicator of potential increase in anything is the growth rate. This is a new issue, and the number of incidents has to start from 0 just like any other issue. When it comes to the safety and well- being of our children, everything should be taken seriously, and a percentage increase of almost 150% should be alarming. Even without considering the percentage increase the fact that 250 children (that were reported) were exposed to a drug that we have yet to fully understand, a drug that was at one time referred to as "public enemy number one" by president Ronald Reagan, is an issue that urgently needs attention. Half of these children required medical attention and some even needed to go to the emergency room for treatment.  All of this was made possible because we legalized marijuana without having the proper regulations. In a broad sense, the government legalized something, can't control it, and now our kids are going to the hospital if they eat the wrong kind of brownie. How is it not an important issue? 

"Safety Alert: Cannabis in Food" is an article by Matt Ruscigno that talks about the risks of cannabis edibles. This is a reputable source because it is a scholarly reviewed article, and it written by a health expert. This article was posed three months ago, which tells me that it has up to date information, and the fact that is it a scholarly article tells me that this information is reliable and relevant. In this article, Ruscigno give some background information of cannabis and THC before going into the risks of edibles. According to this article, interestingly enough, statistically, almost half of the population of American adults have tried marijuana before; at least once. THC has effects of sensory alteration, pain reduction, appetite stimulation, and reduction of nausea: which is why there has been a push for legalization from people who have chronic diseases such as HIV and cancer, because pain reduction and appetite are essential in treatment for these diseases. Interestingly enough, cannabis is listed by the U.S. government as a drug that has no medicinal value and a risk for addiction (Safety Alert). This shows how much of a blind eye the government is turning towards this issue. Ruscigno talks about risks of cannabis edibles, and acknowledges that any medication has its risks. The "high" that comes from marijuana ingestion impacts motor skills and the relaxing effects may even interfere with social and professional matters. "Consuming THC orally, as opposed to smoking, may increase the dosage and levels of active metabolites." Ingesting marijuana as opposed to smoking it, has a delayed reaction time which increases the risk of overconsumption (Safety Alert). One specific and horrific incident he cites is that "Despite the warnings of the seller to only consume one sixth of the cannabis cookie, the young man continued to eat it because he "didn't feel anything" (Safety Alert). Not long after, he showed erratic behavior and jumped to his death from a fourth- story balcony." 

Another article posted on The Denver Post goes into detail about the safety aspects of marijuana edibles, and how to be safe in the "age of cannabis candy." This article was authored by Dr. Michael J. Kosnett, who is a doctor of internal medicine. In the article, Kosnett talks about how "edibles" are the now legally available THC- infused sweets. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main active ingredient in marijuana and is what produces the "high" and the physical and psychological affects that come with ingesting THC. "The risk posed by oral THC over-dosage was first scientifically investigated nearly 30 years ago when synthetic THC, under the generic name dronabinol, was approved by the FDA as an anti-nausea drug for adults and children undergoing cancer chemotherapy. (Kosnett) Clinical trials established that the maximum tolerated oral dose in a new user, adjusted for body size, would equate to 4 to 12 mg in a typical 2- to 4-year-old" Kosnett said. It is no surprise then that kids have such intense reactions, often requiring serious medical attention, because some marijuana edibles contain hundreds of milligrams of THC in a single piece. Now that these are legal and easily obtained, the number of incidents will likely continue to drastically increase. Fourteen children were sent to the emergency room for accidental ingestion of marijuana from 2009 to 2011. This is alarming even though the number of incidents is relatively small, because there were zero cases from 2005 to 2009. Dr. Kosnett acknowledges that "virtually all marijuana edibles available" are sold in "simple" wrappers or packaging that do not meet the established standards of child- resistant packaging. It's hard to comprehend that the state government would let marijuana products, which have been demonized by some states and the federal government for many years, be sold in packaging that is easier for a child to get into than the packaging of something like Advil. I am not saying that Advil shouldn't be kept in protective, child resistant containers, I am just saying that if the government will go to lengths to keep minimally intoxicating (but still harmful if taken in large quantities  --  like most things are) products locked up tight, marijuana products should receive at least the same treatment; if not even more strict. In 1973, the Consumer Products Safety Commission administered the Poison Prevention Packaging Act, which requires child resistant packaging for products that are considered to present a risk of "serious injury or illness to children under 5", I think that any marijuana product meet those criteria. 

The Colorado State government website posted a page speaking on safe storage of marijuana products. The Colorado State government acknowledges that the number of children under nine years old that have been hospitalized by accidental marijuana consumption is increasing. They suggest that people keep their marijuana products in child resistant packaging, should be clearly labelled, or locked up. This is a good start to stopping the problem, but I think that stating the obvious "you should do this" won't have a definite affect. However, the Colorado Department of Revenue requires that all retail marijuana products use a certain symbol on the packaging. The symbol says "Department of Revenue Marijuana, Criminal Enforcement Division" on it. It has a big crest with an eagle on top. Again, I think that this is a start to stopping the problem, but it falls short. First off, the symbol doesn't scream marijuana product, it screams police badge with the word marijuana on it, almost in fine print. Also, the Colorado Department of Revenue only requires the symbol to be on the packaging, not the actual product itself. This does nothing when the product is out of the wrapper, and the scenario of a candy bar left on the counter out of the wrapper is not a far-fetched one. 

"The Public Health Framework of Legalized Marijuana in Colorado" is an article written by authors that are with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver. This article has a wide range of source dates from 1982 up until 2015, and was posted in 2016. This article talks about the development of the issue of marijuana product exposure and how the government is handling it. It talks about how the department is monitoring the health impact by analyzing data on marijuana- related hospitalizations, mortality, and birth defects on an annual basis to identify trends of health effects of marijuana. I believe that this is a great step in the right direction, and can lead to valuable information that will help the cause. However, with that said, the authors' overall view of the issue is that currently, the regulations of marijuana products are indeed weak, and correlate directly to this issue. "Because of the lack of a federal infrastructure for regulating marijuana, state health departments often find themselves in new roles with little resources for support."

This new issue is even affecting some of our holidays. The Washington Poison Center posted an article warning parents about marijuana edibles on Halloween. On the page it talks about how it marijuana edibles can be found in multiple shapes, sizes, and types. This makes it virtually impossible to distinguish these from "traditional candies and sweets" and is ample reason for concern on Halloween. A brownie that contains THC looks the same as one that doesn't. It wasn't too long ago when someone put a razor blade in a piece of candy and gave it to a child on Halloween. If someone is sick enough to do that, I am confident that there are people out there that would give out marijuana candies. This poses a huge threat because marijuana edibles have enough of the active ingredient, THC, to cause prominent symptoms in adults, let alone kids. "We've had a 33% increase this year in calls about children exposed to marijuana edibles, compared to 2013" said Dr. Alex Garrard, the Clinical Managing Director of the Washington Poison Control Center. This is a direct correlation of the legalization of marijuana products with weak regulations in place. 

I believe there are multiple regulations that can and should be put into place to alleviate this issue. I think that the packaging these products are being sold in should be very plain in color and have little to no design, not even giving a clue of what's inside the package. In some of the packaging that is being used now, marijuana edibles are being displayed through a clear bag, and the contents look exactly the same as some of our favorite candies. Also, not only should the packaging regulations be stricter, the contents need to be easily identified as containing marijuana. As of right now, if you unwrap a marijuana chocolate bar and leave it on a table, you wouldn't be able to distinguish it from any other regular chocolate bar. I believe this issue can be solved by requiring all marijuana products to have a universal symbol on the product itself, not just the packaging, to show that it does contain marijuana. Another solution I believe will help alleviate the issue is changing the way marijuana products are advertised. Similar to the case of Camel cigarettes having to drop its mascot, Joe Camel, because it appealed too much to the children, marijuana product advertisements should be geared solely towards adults. This can be achieved by banning neon colors, pop art, and characters in the advertisements. I do not know for sure that these proposed regulations will stop the occurrence of marijuana product exposure, but I do believe it is the least that can be done in a realistic attempt to solve the issue. I also think that if the state government can't follow through with these regulations, we have no business allowing marijuana to be sold legally.  

As a result of new laws being passed allowing the sale of medical and recreational marijuana, new rules and regulations have been implemented to keep marijuana out of the hands of children. Based off of evidence form my sources, I believe that these rules and regulations are not strict enough, and as a result, more and more children are being exposed to marijuana products. Research has shown a correlation between these weak regulations and the rise in the number of incidents. Though the number of incidents isn't "large" relative to other issues, the effects of edibles on children are severe, and may require serious medical attention, sometimes even intensive care. The problem is not a big issue yet, but it must be stopped before it is. This issue must be addressed because it concerns the health of our children. The opposition may argue that although the percent increase in incidents of exposure to children is large increase, it is a relative increase, and the actual number of incidents is insignificant to that of other issues such as prescription drug or alcohol use. Though it is not as big of a problem as underage exposure to alcohol or tobacco, marijuana exposure has serious effects and it should be stopped before it does become an issue of that caliber. If our state governments want to legalize marijuana for any type of use, they need to have the proper regulations in place, and must be ready to make new regulations in light of unforeseen issues.

