Cannabis Emergencies

According to the March 19th edition of Annals of Internal Medicine, cannabis ER visits are increasing and are divided into the following categories:

—Gastrointestinal symptoms like vomiting.

—-Intoxication symptoms

—-Psychiatric such as anxiety and psychosis (hallucinations)

—-Cardiovascular

The proportion of ER visits due to edibles is rising rapidly because often there is delay in absorption and more is consumed. Additionally oral doses can accumulate in the body since the kidneys don’t clear it out as rapidly. Inhaled products act more quickly and are cleared by the body more rapidly.

In fact, the rare deaths from cannabis are reported in people consuming edibles. Psychiatric problems are the most common reason for ER visits with edibles while gastrointestinal issues are more common with inhaled products.

Dr.Rx: This study is useful because like alcohol marijuana is a drug with its own set of side effects. More ER visits are occurring since legalization and the proportion of visits is higher with edibles. More high quality studies are needed to better define the benefits and harms of cannibis.