It’s too easy for a child to stumble upon a jar full of cannabis gummies or candies. The real risk occurs when your child takes a handful of candies out of the jar and eats them thinking they are normal candies. Unfortunately, we all are well aware of the consequences associated with an edible overdose. The situation gets even worse in the case of children. So, here is a write-up that covers five major steps that might help you save a child who accidentally swallowed marijuana edibles.
Figure Out What Did They Ingest?
First and foremost, you need to find out whether your child ingested a THC or CBD edible. THC edibles have psychoactive properties and CBD edibles are largely engineered by medical marijuana growers to help people relax without causing intoxication. So, finding out the mix should be your priority. Also, you will most likely cause panic after seeing your child eating your cannabis edibles. And it is okay to react in a certain way, but things can get worse if you don’t stay focused. So, step back and breathe, look at the jar, and find out what happened. Talk to the child and ask how many edibles were ingested.
While it’s not safe to gulp four or five gummies instantly, it’s also not life-threatening. The main concern would be to look at the situation of your child and keep the time frame in mind. Cannabis edibles can take a few hours to finally show their effects, even inside the body of a child. If you caught them in the act, they will behave normally and you might get a little sense of comfort. The main problem is that your child is still in danger and once you find out the mix follow the below-mentioned steps.
Plan and Talk to a Medical Professional
This point is a detailed analysis of what I had mentioned before. First, grab a paper and write down everything that you have learned so far. For instance, the amount of edible ingested, time of the act, behavioral changes, and form of edible. These details will come quite handy when you talk to a health professional later on.
You also need to take note of things like how much time has passed since your child swallowed an edible. This will help you adapt to the changes in your child’s behavior. Ideally, the effects of an edible include lethargy, feeling of relaxation, lack of focus and balance, and impaired state of mind. As a parent, you are in the best position to note all these symptoms. You can also take help from a cannabis expert or medical marijuana growers because they know everything about edibles and dosing guides. In case, you think something is strange and should have not happened, immediately talk to a health professional and seek instant advice.
Seek Help From Poison Control
Officials at poison control will tell you how to manage the situation effectively. Take your pen and paper again and tell them everything you have penned down. Next, note down what the operator has to say and write down every detail carefully. I am asking you to note down everything because the situation will be quite stressful and you will miss out on a lot of details. So, you should write down everything and read the instructions to help your child efficiently.
Dispensing on the situation and the number of edibles consumed, you might have to take your child to the ER. In that case, do not wait for the symptoms to appear. Immediately drive to the nearest hospital and leave the rest to the medical health professionals.
Study the Symptoms
As I have mentioned earlier it is vital to read the symptoms. You don’t want a child protective service knocking at your door. After all, cannabis is illegal on the federal level and once you seek help from medical health professionals, the CPR may or may not call child protection services. In most scenarios, this doesn’t happen, but in case child services are contacted, stay calm because they will ask a few questions. All you have to do is answer them honestly and everything will be good to go.
That said, let’s see how you can recognize the signs of severe intoxication. A mild or small dose will not cause major side effects. However, you still have to be prepared for the worst. For instance, intoxication will cause your child to suffer from an unpleasant feeling along with nausea, paranoia, anxiety, and increased heart rate. You may also notice your child losing balance and struggling to stay awake. In either of the cases, nothing bad will happen with your child because the effects will wear off eventually. You simply have to stay around your child while the effects take over and try to put your child to sleep.
Cannabis Will Not Kill Your Child
While you go through every detail carefully in order to save your child from the effects of an overdose, note down one more important thing. First, your child will not die after ingesting a small dose of THC or CBD. Cannabis is not fatal and no one has ever died after overdosing on marijuana. The only exception here is extreme cases of an overdose. If your child consumes a lot of cannabis edibles, they are most likely to go into a comatose state. That’s why it is vital to keep edible jars or containers away from the reach and sight of your children.
Some studies show that regular cannabis consumption can cause cognitive dysfunction in teenagers. Not only this, but early use of marijuana can lead to long term brain damage in some form. The only good thing is that these studies do not apply to this situation. This situation applies to children who accidentally consumed cannabis.
So, in that case, problems such as cognitive dysfunction are the last thing you need to be worried about. What you actually need to worry about is paying attention to every minute detail. You see, people who eat cannabis edibles are familiar with its effects. Details such as the amount of edible ingested and time of consumption. These tiny but vital details will help you analyze how you should handle the situation.
Final Thoughts
The problem with marijuana is that it is not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. So, the products will not come with instructions like child-locked or keep away from children. You might leave the container open without realizing that edibles look exactly like normal food items. And that doesn’t make you a bad parent if you accidentally leave an edible container in the bare sight of your child.
The only thing that you need to keep in mind is that the situation is preventable. If you follow all the steps mentioned-above carefully you will avoid a big deal of hassle and chaos. More vitally, always remember to stay calm and patient because things happen and sometimes situations go out of your hand. Being hard on yourself or your child will only deteriorate the situation. On the other hand, if you prepare, read the symptoms, and handle the situation carefully, you might narrate the story to your children when they grow up and laugh it off.