United States: According to the latest research, between 2021 and 2022, calls in the United States poison centers about synthetic cannabis soared by 88 percent.
More about Synthetic cannabis
In synthetic cannabis, various forms of active ingredients, such as marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC, and THC-O acetate, are present.
These banned or regulated products are controlled in 14 states of the US. Whereas it could be purchased easily online. Moreover in other states, on points such as gas stations and small convenience store these products could be availed.
Dr. Hannah Hays, the team leader, said that the users often neglect the health threats coming from the products and call them “diet weed” or “hemp products,” US News reported.
Hays is the medical director of the Central Ohio Poison Center and faculty at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus.
In a Nationwide Children’s news statement, Hays said, “Many people don’t realize how toxic these products can be, especially to young children. One in four children needed to be hospitalized after exposure.”
She focussed, “If someone vapes, smokes, eats edibles or drinks infused beverages with delta-8, delta-10 THC or THC-O, all of those products should be stored up, away, and out of sight and reach of children, preferably in a locked container.”
“These products should never be used in front of kids who might mistake them for food or drinks that they are allowed to have,” she added.
About the soaring number of calls
As per the Hays’ team went through 2021-2022 data collected from the National Poison Data System (NPDS) and maintained by America’s Poison Centers.
The number of incoming calls reporting synthetic weed use to poison centers was 1,746 while last year and the following year in 2022, the new total number even doubled to 3,276, according to the research.
Amazingly, the distribution of cases on the phone lines was as follows (31 percent) for kids who were five years old and younger and this age group later composed more than half (58 percent) of cases where the person] was so sick that they had to be hospitalized in the critical care unit.
Youngsters under 19 accounted for 25 percent of all deadly cases from the intake of synthetic cannabis, with the most affected age range being 6 to 19 years old. About 40 percent of these cases appeared among adults within the 20 to 59 years old age category, as reported by Hays’ group.
In most cases that were investigated, the floor calls came after someone at home had smoked synthetic cannabis.
Negative effects of these products on the body
The study stated, “the most common clinical effects were mild central nervous system depression (when signals from the brain and spinal cord decrease) (25%), rapid heartbeat (23%), and agitation (16%),” as US News reported.
Other impacts include Depression, confusion, hallucinations, delusions, and movement disorders, which were commonly associated with them.