Hide It From Clyde - A THC Overdose

It has been a blunt minute since I sat down to type up a Blunt Minute but the last few months have passed by in a 100mph blur, haven’t they? Let’s get into it.  Last night, my kids found a secret stash of candy that has been hidden in my office closet since Halloween.  While I was annoyed that they were sneaking candy and mildly concerned about their upcoming dental visit, the incident was overall harmless.  Not so for the millions of kids who unknowingly delve into their parents’ stash of edibles.  Gummies, brownies and the like are undeniably tempting for kids and it is the caregivers’ job to keep them out of reach.  I’d say keeping these products hidden is even more necessary than other adult products that we already know to safeguard, such as grandma’s Moscato or Uncle Gary’s Marlboroughs, because edibles do look, smell and often taste as good as their kid-friendly counterparts.  Hell, even a 42-some-year-old friend of mine, we’ll call him “Clyde”, recently ate an entire chocolate bar he found in his home pantry, not knowing it contained THC, and suffered through several miserable hours as a result.  If grown-ups with plenty of marijuana experience can’t tell the difference, it’s no surprise kids do the same.  Do we need those big scary warning labels on edibles like they have on cigs and alcohol? Probably not, because doctors will tell you that marijuana overdoses are rarely life-threatening or result in long-term damage.    

But here’s the thing:  When a State legalizes marijuana for recreational use, we all happily watch the State sales tax revenues increase.  You know what else increases?  Hospital visits for kids who have ingested marijuana, often in the form of these sweets.  JAMA and the CDC and many others have reported on this phenomenon.  Don’t get me wrong; I’ve been #legalize since I first tried marijuana at age 18.  But as a parent, the issue of kids ingesting products containing THC does concern me and a national campaign would be a good start to hit the problem from multiple angles, including PSAs, educating parents at pediatric checkups and even educating kids themselves about the dangers of eating treats they may find at home. We are thankful for our partners at the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) for doing their part to bring awareness to drugged driving and the impact it can have on our communities. In addition to the candy stash, we also want to be assured that our child’s school bus driver isn’t under the influence. I can’t wait to see what the marketing creatives come up with for these PSA programs!  In the meantime, if you do find yourself higher than you’d like to be (Clyde, talking to you), good ways to counteract the effects are hydrate, rest, take a walk, and even taking some CBD will counter-balance too-extreme THC effects. That’s my PSA for the day.

Be well.

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