Marijuana (archive photo).
Photo: AP
Toddlers find drugs in home, suffer cannabis poisoning
It's not common, but it happens: Children ingesting marijuana and hashish left somewhere by their relatives. So far, these incidents have not resulted in permanent injuries or ailments.
During the summer months, when children are usually at home, there's usually an uptick in incidents in which kids swallow dangerous materials, including recreational drugs.
In the past few weeks, Haifa's Rambam Health Care Center has admitted four children under two years of age who were in a low-consciousness state, sleepy, and non-reactive to their environment.
The reason became clear once they were examined: They had swallowed their family members' hashish. So far, it's "only" resulted in partial loss of consciousness, but it had the potential of leading to severe brain damage and even death.
"The four cases ended well, but unfortunately that doesn't guarantee that the next child to be exposed to drugs, through no fault of their own, won't experience irreversible damage," says Dr. Gal Neuman, and expert in pediatric medicine, clinical pharmacology, and toxicology at Rambam.
Marijuana. The potential to cause severe barin damage in young children. (Photo: Reuters)
One of the cases involved an 18-month-old toddler arriving at the hospital after apparently receiving a bite of a hashish cookie from a relative. The hospital emphasized that it was unclear whether this was done on purpose or by mistake. "The child arrived at the hospital in an ambulance, in a near-comatose state. I asked for a urine sample, and it (came back) positive for drug use. The baby was hospitalized for a few hours in the children's intensive care unit until he recovered.
Wolfson Medical Center is also sadly familiar with this phenomenon. A month ago, two toddlers arrived in the Holon hospital with cannabis poisoning. Both were treated, with one being released after one night and the other after a few days.
"Cannabis poisoning is not a very common phenomenon with kids, but there are more than a few cases of children who arrive here with poisoning (related to) drugs like Acamol (a common pain reliever) or Antibiotics," says Professor Ilan Dalal, director of the pediatric wing at Wolfson. Parents are advised, especially in the summer months, to make sure dangerous narcotics and other drugs are kept well outside the reach of children.
