Who likes gummies, chocolate, candy, cookies or brownies? We do! We do! While most everyone loves sweet treats, curious and hungry toddlers are most prone to get into trouble when finding a treat that’s actually a cannabis product. The number of unintentional exposures to cannabis edibles, especially gummies, has increased since Illinois legalized cannabis products in 2020.

Curious Kids Are at Greater Risk

While many adults use edible cannabis products safely, small children are at risk for severe toxicity due a combination of their small size and weight and their ability to wolf down multiple gummies, cookies or other edibles. In a single sitting, children can ingest multiple doses of an infused product and consume several times the normal adult dose of THC—the main psychoactive ingredient in the cannabis plant.

Three Cases That Would Frighten Any Parent

• A crying 6-year-old child was brought to the emergency department (ED) after responding poorly and being cold to the touch. The parents were at work when the caregiver gave several cookies from the kitchen to the child as a snack. Each cookie contained several adult doses of THC. The child was admitted to the hospital for over a day and recovered.

• A 2-year-old child was found poorly responsive at home. Earlier in the day, the child’s visiting grandparents noted that their baggie filled with eight medical cannabis gummies was missing. At the hospital, the child was unresponsive and had a urine drug screen test positive for THC. The child was admitted to the hospital, recovered completely after more than a day and was discharged.

• A 3-year-old child was brought to the ED with new onset seizures at home. The child had more seizures in the ED. As part of the workup, a urine toxicology screen showed the presence of THC in the urine. The mother had stored multiple cannabis gummies, leftover from a wedding celebration, in her purse. All the gummies were missing when she checked her handbag.

According to Illinois Law, dispensaries can only sell edibles in 100 mg, clearly labeled, child-resistant packages that you can’t see through and do not have pictures of candy or cookies on them. This helps to make the packaging less attractive to children. Storing infused candies and baked goods in plastic baggies and containers and other unlabeled containers is an invitation for a hungry child.

Different Sizes, Different Effects

Ten milligrams of THC is generally considered a common adult dose, but that is a big dose for a small child. In three cases above, the children consumed several times the usual adult dose—they did not stop at one gummy or part of a single cookie. Since 2020, cases of pediatric intoxication due to edibles reported to the Illinois Poison Center (IPC) have risen steadily—quadrupling between 2019 and 2020 alone. According to IPC data, 2-year-old children are the most likely to be exposed compared to other age groups. (See Table 1)

Table 1: Illinois Poison Center Data

Protect Your Children from Harm

Like any other drug or chemical product, simple safety measures can assist parents and other caregivers in preventing toddlers from accidentally eating cannabis products.

• Keep cannabis-infused products high, out of reach and out of sight of children.
• Keep edibles in clearly labeled, non-see through, child-resistant packaging.
• Do not store infused products with other food products where they may be found and confused with food. Cannabis products are sold as drug-infused food, but are really a drug in a sweet treat (as opposed to a pill, tablet or syrup).
• Talk to caregivers, babysitters and extended family about the presence of cannabis edibles in the house to decrease the possibility of confusion resulting in an unpleasant surprise from afternoon snack time.
• Do not eat edibles in front of the kids. Children can be immediately curious about anything a parent is eating, especially if it appears to be candy or other sweet treat. 

Lastly, if you have cannabis edibles in the home, keep the poison center helpline number handy: 1-800-222-1222. Our pharmacists and nurses are available to assist you 24/7 and the service is free and confidential. If you know the amount of cannabis edibles the child ingested, our toxicology experts can figure out if it is super toxic based on the child’s weight. In some cases, they can save you a trip to the emergency department. They will also advise you to seek medical care if the total amount ingested is concerning.

Click here for a free Complimentary Safety Packet (available in English and Spanish) that contains a sticker and magnet with IPC’s free, confidential helpline number, 1-800-222-1222, as well as poison prevention tips for the entire year. You can also get poison prevention information from our Caregivers Guide (available in English and Spanish).