Canadian Court: Government Can’t Prohibit Patients’ Rights To Grow Cannabis

Doctors reviewed marijuana-related emergency-room admissions at a hospital near Denver International Airport during 2014, the first year recreational pot sales became legal.

The study did not go into detail on whether the ER visits were the result of smoking marijuana, or consuming edibles, according to lead investigator Dr. Howard Kim, a postdoctoral fellow in emergency medicine at Northwestern.

The rate of out-of-state marijuana patients in the ER for cannabis-related problems has been increasing more rapidly than the rate for Colorado residents. The rate went from 85 per 10,000 visits in 2013 to 168 per 10,000 visits in 2014.

The rate of all emergency-room visits by Colorado residents that were possibly caused by pot, on the other hand, did not change significantly in this period, increasing from 106 per 10,000 visits in 2013 to 112 per 10,000 visits in 2014, according to the report.

It’s not surprising that the rates of emergency-room visits also increased for Colorado residents, Kim told Live Science.

The difference between tourists and residents played out statewide.

“Obviously, if there was a 50 percent increase in alcohol poisoning, that would be very different than if there was a 50 percent increase in people showing up who mentioned they had a beer”, said Mason Tvert, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, which seeks to legalize marijuana.

Because of marijuana, weed tourists going to the ER increased by 109 percent between 2012 and 2014. Among Colorado residents, the rate of emergency-room visits possibly related to cannabis use increased from 61 to 70 to 86 to 101, respectively. In other words, when a person buys marijuana in Colorado, the salesperson (or “budtender”) should clearly outline any health risks to the buyer, he said.

Men were more two to three times more likely than women among both groups to complain of cannabis-related ailments in emergency rooms.

A lot of visitors to Colorado figure they might give the state’s good ganja a try.

“I think reaching visitors is a much harder task”, said Kim, who worked on the study while at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora.

Tourists most often land in the ER because pot has exacerbated existing medical conditions, Monte said. Low-income patients not covered by the exemption were forced to either illegally grow their own or purchase cheaper cannabis on the black market.

None of the cases in Monte’s study were fatal.

To decrease the adverse effects of marijuana and increase awareness, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment established programs such as “Good to Know”, which is focused on educating Colorado residents about the side effects of marijuana use, according to Kim.

“We are pleased that these data have proven useful in identifying the need for further education around the effects of marijuana use”, Steven Summer, president and CEO of the hospital association, said in a statemet. “Some people tend to do it overboard more when they’re on vacation, and that could also be playing a part”.