Dr. Andrew Monte, an emergency medicine physician and toxicology expert at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine, said on Mar. 20 that people should be very cautious when trying marijuana edibles.
The popularity of marijuana dispensaries in Colorado has led many visitors to try edibles, but experts warn that these products can cause serious health issues, especially for those who are inexperienced with cannabis. Emergency room visits linked to edible use are much higher than those associated with inhaled forms of marijuana.
Monte said some patients may benefit from edibles for medical problems like pain, but he does not recommend them for recreational users or those new to cannabis. “They can cause people to freak out. Clearly, edibles have a more severe toxicity than inhaled forms, and the effects are psychiatric in nature,” Monte said.
He advises starting with a small dose—no more than 2.5 to 5 milligrams—and waiting several hours before considering more because it can take up to four hours for the effects to appear. Many new users make the mistake of consuming additional doses too soon if they do not feel high right away, which can result in severe symptoms such as anxiety, hallucinations, or even trips to the emergency room.
According to Monte’s research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, ER visits due to edibles were found to be 33 times higher than expected when compared with sales data for these products in Colorado.
There have been extreme cases where consumption of large amounts of edibles was linked to deaths in Colorado: a college student jumped from a building after taking six times the recommended dosage; another young man killed himself after using edibles; and one case involved violence attributed by the user’s family members or themselves directly back to edible consumption.
Experts also warn about accidental ingestion by children and pets since many edible products resemble common snacks or candies. Dr. George “Sam” Wang at Children’s Hospital Colorado has seen increased accidental poisonings involving toddlers and dogs who ate unsecured edibles at home.
Monte recommends keeping all marijuana-infused foods locked away and out of reach from children and animals.
