The cannabis news cycle has been spinning quickly lately, with the rescheduling news and Farm Bill updates circling. There have also been some dark news cycles. Every few weeks, there’s another story about kids bringing edibles to school. Most recently, teens fell “acutely ill” with an “altered level of consciousness” after taking edibles while on a field trip. But things are a bit more dire in Detroit, Mich.
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Recent data from the Michigan Poison and Drug Information Center reported a 60 percent rise in kids aged 4 to 13 ingesting edibles. This may indicate a rise in kids eating weed, but it may also point to the fact that parents feel safer seeking medical help in a post-legalization landscape.
The Detroit Public School superintendent solidified the rise in youth cannabis issues in a recent letter to the governor. He cited a 500 percent rise in “drug-related infractions” related to cannabis edibles in the last year. That letter from the superintendent of Detroit Public Schools doesn’t just pose a problem. It also highlights some solutions, and some require a shift in cannabis tax allocation.
Like all first drafts, there are good points and some duds. The most vital piece is there: public education is often effective in harm reduction.
More cannabis public education is needed
The letter asserts that cannabis tax dollars should be used to detect cannabis edibles and vape pens. It also asks that taxes support more public education efforts. The requested initiatives target parents and cannabis storage safety to keep edibles and other products away from kids and pets. Lastly, they ask the state to consider having markings on the edibles themselves to indicate it has cannabis.
The intention is that kiddos won’t accidentally eat a weed candy thinking it’s a regular sweet treat. Michigan regulations requires symbols on outer packaging but not gummies and chocolates themselves.
A school would likely have to create intrusive policies to detect edibles and vape pens on students, which may spark controversy. However, the other points hold their water, specifically a need for more education on safe cannabis purchasing, storage, and consumption.
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Youth edible consumption is just one cannabis public health problem. Canadian seniors are facing another. Data shows that senior cannabis-related emergency room visits grew immensely after legalization and again after the province legalized the sale of edibles. Many of the visits included mixing alcohol (16 percent), cancer patients (38 percent), or dementia diagnoses (six percent).
The Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP) funds projects that target cannabis education. It’s where the Canadian government doles public education funds. As it reads today, there’s not a mention of seniors. Given that this is recent research, the next cycle may very well emphasize educating elderly Canadians about dosing and other complications that come with aging.
SUAP Projects create cannabis education resources for teachers, administrators, and school staff in the country. With these efforts, youth consumption has remained the same, though Ontario and Alberta saw a rise in cannabis-related ER visits throughout legalization. Kids were already consuming weed before legalization but may not have felt comfortable seeking medical help in dire times after the switch, one could infer.
Benefits of cannabis education
The U.S. may benefit from more cannabis-related public education for kindergarten through high school kids. Adults could also use more insight into safe storage habits so kids and curious pets don’t get into the gummies Seniors also deserve the truth from both sides: how cannabis might be scary if they eat or smoke too much, but also the ways it may calm a wicked bad back for a minute or inspire a healthy appetite.
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Michigan collected $87M in cannabis taxes in 2023. Of that, 35 percent goes to the K-12 School Fund, 35 percent is allocated to the transportation fund, and 30 percent to localities that allow adult-use operations. Detroit received $2M of the fund, and hopefully a portion will go towards educating students about why kids shouldn’t be smoking or eating weed.
The state has a website with resources about teen development, parenting in a legal landscape, and more–but let’s see bus ads about driving high, posters and pamphlets about proper dosing in doctor’s offices, and radio PSAs for storage solutions in homes with children or pets. This should be commonplace in every state. There are efforts in some locations, but more is needed to offset the persistent news of edibles in schools and ER visits for overconsumption.
As Helen Lovejoy aptly puts it, “Won’t somebody think of the children?”
