Title: Pediatric cannabis exposure before and after legalization in Canada<br/>Author: Hong Kim<br/><a href='http://umem.org/profiles/faculty/526/'>[Click to email author]</a><hr/><p>
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Canada legalized recreational cannabis use in 2017. A retrospective study of children (0-18 years) who presented to pediatric ED with cannabis intoxication/exposure was performed between Jan 1, 2008 to Dec 21, 2019 to assess the trend/severity of intoxication.</p>
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<strong>Methods</strong></p>
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Single center study: Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto</li>
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Case identification by ICD 10 code for cannabis intoxication and positive urine drug screening test</li>
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Pre-legalization period was defined as 1/1/2008 to 4/12/2017</li>
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Peri-post legalization period was defined as 4/13/2017 to 12/31/2019</li>
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<strong>Result</strong></p>
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A total of 298 patients were identified</p>
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Pre-legalization period: 232 (77.8%)</li>
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Peri-post legalization period: 66 (22.1%)</li>
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Male: 150 (50.3%)</li>
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Median age: 15.9 years (IQR: 15.0-16.8) </li>
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Pre-legalization</p>
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Peri-post legalization</p>
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P value</p>
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Monthly ED visit</p>
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2.1 (IRQ: 1.9-2.5)</p>
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1.7 (IQR: 1.0-3.0)</p>
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0.69</p>
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ICU admission</p>
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4.7%</p>
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13.6%</p>
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0.02</p>
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Respiratory symptoms</p>
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50.9%</p>
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65.9%</p>
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0.05</p>
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Altered mental status</p>
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14.2%</p>
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28.8%</p>
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<0.01</p>
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Age < 12 years</p>
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3.0%</p>
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12.1%</p>
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0.04</p>
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Unintentional exposure</p>
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2.8%</p>
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14.4%</p>
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0.02</p>
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Edible ingestion</p>
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7.8%</p>
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19.7%</p>
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0.02</p>
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Respiratory symptoms: tachypnea/bradypnea, cyanosis, O2 sat < 92%, bronchospasm, oxygen requirement</p>
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Edible ingestion was a predictor of ICU admission (OR: 4.1; 95% CI: 1.2-13.7)</li>
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<strong>Conclusion</strong></p>
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Legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada was associated with increased rates of severe intoxication in children.</li>
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<fieldset><legend>References</legend>
<p>
Cohen N et al. Pediatric cannabis intoxication trends in the pre and post-legalization era. Clin Toxicol 2021. e-pub Jun 17, 2021. </p>
<p>
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15563650.2021.1939881">https://doi.org/10.1080/15563650.2021.1939881</a></p>
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