美国国家公共电台 NPR--Study: More than 3,000 young children accidentally ate pot edibles in 2021

Study: More than 3,000 young children accidentally ate pot edibles² in 2021

Transcript³

A new study in the journal Pediatrics finds a huge spike⁴ in accidental consumption of edible¹ weed among children 5 and younger. While most suffered mild impacts, about one in five were hospitalized.

ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:

The number of states that legalized recreational cannabis more than doubled in the last five years. A study finds in that time more cases of very young children consuming edible marijuana. NPR's Rhitu Chatterjee reports.

RHITU CHATTERJEE, BYLINE⁵: Back in 2019, Dr. Marit Tweet, an emergency medicine doctor, was starting a fellowship at the Illinois Poison Control Center.

MARIT TWEET: The big buzz at that time was that cannabis was going to be legalized for recreational adult use January 1, 2020.

CHATTERJEE: Now that Illinois was changing its law, she looked at studies from other states that had already legalized the drug. Some had found unintentional health impacts on kids. One study in Colorado documented a rise in the number of children accidentally consuming edible products. So Tweet wanted to know if this would also happen nationally as more states legalized the drug. And she was most concerned about kids 5 years and younger.

TWEET: This age group accounts for about 40% of all calls to poison centers nationally.

CHATTERJEE: And it's the age when children start to explore their surroundings.

TWEET: They can get into things. And you can't really rationalize with them, hey, you shouldn't get into this. This might be dangerous to you. They think it looks like candy, and they want to eat it.

CHATTERJEE: So Tweet and her colleagues looked at information from the National Poison Data System. They found that back in 2017, there were just over 200 reported cases of accidental consumption of edibles by children in this age group. But in 2021, the number had shot up to more than 3,000.

TWEET: An increase of 1,375%.

CHATTERJEE: The vast majority of the kids had found the drug in their own home. While most kids suffered mild impacts, about 1 in 5 was hospitalized. Dr. Andrew Monte is an emergency medicine doctor at University of Colorado Hospital who wasn't involved in the new study. He says he and his colleagues see these cases in their emergency department.

ANDREW MONTE: We do have these children come in several times per month.

CHATTERJEE: He urges that if parents suspect their child ate an edible, they should take the child to a doctor right away.

MONTE: There are some patients that actually have airway⁶ obstruction⁷ and need to be in the ICU or put on a ventilator.

CHATTERJEE: The new study, published in Pediatrics, found that a significant minority of kids were admitted to an ICU. Dr. Nora Volkow directs the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

NORA VOLKOW: So it's not just the issue that there are more poisons of children consuming cannabis but that those consumptions appear to be more serious.

CHATTERJEE: She says the findings raise the issue of how these edibles are packaged and marketed.

VOLKOW: If you've ever been curious, go to a dispensary or a store where they sell cannabis products, which, of course, me being a curious person, I've done. And the edibles are extremely appealing in terms of the packaging, the colors.

CHATTERJEE: So she says parents and caregivers should take note of the new study's findings.

VOLKOW: If they are going to be consuming edibles, then it is their responsibility to ensure that those edibles are not at the reach of their children.

CHATTERJEE: Volkow suggests storing them in childproof containers or just putting them away in places where kids are less likely to find them.

Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR News.

1 edible   

n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的

参考例句：

• Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
• This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得，那种吃不得。

2 edibles   

可以吃的，可食用的( edible的名词复数 )； 食物

参考例句：

• They freely offered for sale what edibles they had. 他们很自愿地把他们的一点点可吃的东西卖给我们。
• Our edibles the wild vegetable. 我们只能吃野菜。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 airway   

n.空中航线，通风口

参考例句：

• Lay them on their side and ensure the airway is unobstructed.让他们侧躺着，并确保呼吸道畅通。
• There is a purple airway in London Airport.伦敦机场里有一条皇家专用飞机跑道。

7 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。