Cannabis Legalization's Unintended Consequences for Children: From Prenatal Exposure to Accidental Ingestion
A review of pediatric cannabis concerns found that legalization has increased accidental childhood exposures, prenatal exposure concerns persist, and while CBD may help pediatric epilepsy, rigorous trials are needed before widespread use.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
The review identified cannabis legalization's impact on children across four developmental stages.
Prenatal: Cannabis remains one of the most commonly used substances during pregnancy, with increasing use as legalization normalizes cannabis. Concerns exist about effects on fetal brain development, though evidence is mixed.
Early childhood: Accidental ingestion of cannabis edibles by young children has increased substantially in legalization states. Edible products (gummies, cookies, brownies) are particularly attractive and accessible to children.
Adolescence: Concerns about increased availability, normalization of use, and higher-potency products. Data on whether legalization increases adolescent use is mixed.
Medical use: CBD shows promise for pediatric epilepsy, but the review emphasizes the need for rigorous clinical trials rather than reliance on unregulated products with variable composition and potency.
Key Numbers
Cannabis is one of the most commonly used substances in pregnancy. Accidental exposures in young children increased with legalization. CBD for pediatric epilepsy requires clinical trials for evidence.
How They Did This
Narrative review of pediatric cannabis concerns across the developmental spectrum, from prenatal through adolescence, including medical use.
Why This Research Matters
Cannabis legalization policies are primarily designed with adults in mind. This review systematically catalogs the pediatric consequences that are often overlooked in policy debates, from poison control calls about toddlers who ate cannabis edibles to questions about prenatal brain development.
The Bigger Picture
The "unintended consequences" framing highlights a gap in cannabis policy: most legalization frameworks focus on adult access, taxation, and criminal justice reform. Child safety (child-resistant packaging, marketing restrictions, prenatal screening) has often been an afterthought, addressed only after problems emerge.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
Narrative review without systematic methodology. The evidence on many pediatric concerns is limited or mixed. The review was published before Epidiolex's FDA approval, so the CBD-epilepsy landscape has changed. Quantitative data on the magnitude of pediatric impacts is still developing.
Questions This Raises
- ?Have child-resistant packaging requirements reduced accidental exposures?
- ?Is prenatal cannabis exposure associated with measurable developmental consequences?
- ?Should pediatric considerations be central to cannabis legalization policy design?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- Accidental childhood cannabis exposures increased after legalization, particularly from edible products
- Evidence Grade:
- Moderate evidence from a narrative review synthesizing available pediatric safety data.
- Study Age:
- Published in 2017. Pediatric cannabis safety has received increasing attention since.
- Original Title:
- Pediatric Concerns Due to Expanded Cannabis Use: Unintended Consequences of Legalization.
- Published In:
- Journal of medical toxicology : official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology, 13(1), 99-105 (2017)
- Authors:
- Wang, George Sam(15)
- Database ID:
- RTHC-01547
Evidence Hierarchy
Summarizes existing research on a topic.
What do these levels mean? →Frequently Asked Questions
Has cannabis legalization increased the risk to children?
Yes, in some ways. Accidental ingestion of cannabis edibles by young children has increased in legalization states. The products often resemble regular candy or baked goods. However, whether legalization has increased adolescent use is still debated.
Is CBD safe for children with epilepsy?
This review emphasized the need for rigorous clinical trials rather than relying on unregulated products. Since this review, pharmaceutical CBD (Epidiolex) received FDA approval in 2018 for specific pediatric epilepsy syndromes, providing a standardized, tested option.
Read More on RethinkTHC
Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-01547APA
Wang, George Sam. (2017). Pediatric Concerns Due to Expanded Cannabis Use: Unintended Consequences of Legalization.. Journal of medical toxicology : official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology, 13(1), 99-105. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-016-0552-x
MLA
Wang, George Sam. "Pediatric Concerns Due to Expanded Cannabis Use: Unintended Consequences of Legalization.." Journal of medical toxicology : official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-016-0552-x
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Pediatric Concerns Due to Expanded Cannabis Use: Unintended ..." RTHC-01547. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/wang-2017-pediatric-concerns-due-to
Access the Original Study
Study data sourced from PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
This study breakdown was produced by the RethinkTHC research team. We analyze and report published research findings without making health recommendations. All interpretations are based solely on the published abstract and study data.