An eight-year-old boy from Oregon, Klamath Falls was hospitalized after consuming a marijuana-infused cookie on Saturday. He had reportedly found the cookie lying on the ground and ate it unsuspectingly. Later, the child complained of feeling unwell.
According to the boy's mother, Jessica Hart, after Jackson returned from an outing at a neighborhood rock mine, he complained about uneasiness in breathing by pointing at his chest. He said he was finding it difficult to remain awake.
Hart said on Friday, "He said everything looked like a cartoon." She added, "He said he was vibrating all over."
Soon, the second-grader started vomiting, Oregon Live reported. A panicked Hart thought her son was suffering from food poisoning and asked him what he ate that day. The boy replied he ate a cookie he found lying sealed on the ground at the quarry where his mother and two more adults were shooting targets.
Hart and her friends rushed Jackson to the Sky Lakes Medical Center, where he was administered intravenous fluids. All the while, the emergency room staff monitored his condition. The doctors at the medical facility later confirmed that Jackson was suffering from symptoms related to marijuana consumption.
Even as demands for legalizing medical use of marijuana is gaining momentum in various parts of the United States, more reports of death due to the consumption of marijuana products are coming to light. Last year, a 19-year-old died in Colorado after consuming six times the suggested dose of a marijuana cookie and subsequently jumping from the balcony of a four-story building.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reviewed the youth's case and recommended that marijuana edibles should essentially have clear labels. In addition, they should have limited portion sizes as per the dosage guidelines. The recommendations come in the wake of several deaths due to an overdose of marijuana.
A separate Oregon Live report indicated that snacks and treats prepared with cannabis are very tasty, but potent at the same time. Regulators in Oregon regulators have now introduced new rules making all such products half as potent as those legally sold in Colorado and Washington.
Sale of marijuana is legal in Oregon, but the state has initiated precautionary measures to avoid the pitfalls of foods, drinks, and sweets infused with cannabis. Unlike in Washington and Colorado, where the sale of cannabis-infused foods and drinks are a burgeoning business, the market is not booming in Oregon.
However, there are still reports of death following marijuana consumption by some rookie consumers. In fact, there has been an increase in marijuana-related calls to poison centers recently after food containing cannabis was legalized in the state.
