幼児の大麻入り食品誤食、５年で１５倍に激増 米研究

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】嗜好（しこう）用マリフアナ（大麻）を合法化する州が増えている米国で、大麻入り食品を誤食する幼児の数がこの５年で約１５倍に激増したとする研究結果が３日、米医学誌「小児科学」に掲載された。（写真は大麻入り食品）
　米保健当局の集計によると、５歳以下の子どもが大麻入り食品を摂取した事故は、２０１７年には２００件余りだったが、２０２１年には３０５０件を超えた。
　大麻入り食品はキャンディーやチョコレート、クッキーなど菓子の形をしたものが多く、子どもの興味をそそりやすい。だが、子どもが摂取した場合、体重が少ないため深刻な状態に陥る可能性がある。
　５年間の調査期間中に大麻入り食品を摂取したと報告があった子どもは約７０００人だった。死亡例はなかったものの、約８％が集中治療室での措置を必要とし、１５％近くが入院した。
　主な症状は、昏睡（こんすい）状態になるなどの中枢神経系の機能低下や頻脈、嘔吐（おうと）などで、点滴治療が行われた。
　研究論文の著者は、子どもの誤食が急増したのは「成人に対して嗜好用大麻の使用を合法化する州が増えたことに関係し得る」と指摘。誤食の９０％以上が家庭で発生していることから、大麻入り食品は鍵のかかる容器に入れ、子どもに分からない場所で保管するよう保護者に呼び掛けている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/01/05-12:50）

The number of American children accidentally ingesting cannabis edibles has jumped nearly 15 times in recent years as more states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, according to a scientific study published Tuesday.
In 2017, just over 200 children aged five or younger consumed a food product infused with cannabis, according to a tally kept by health officials, compared to over 3,050 cases in 2021, said the study in the medical journal Pediatrics.
Often sold in the form of candy, chocolate or cookies, edibles look appealing to children, but can cause serious harm because of the patients' low weight.
While no deaths were reported in some 7,000 cases of such ingestions by children over the five-year period of the study, some eight percent of children required admission to intensive care, while nearly 15 percent were hospitalized.
The median age of the affected children was three years.
The children's symptoms included depression of the central nervous system, including falling into a coma, tachycardia and vomiting. The patients were treated with intravenous fluids.
When the study began in 2017, recreational marijuana was legal only in eight US states plus Washington, compared to 18 states at the end of May 2022.
These increases are believed to be associated with more states allowing adult, recreational use of cannabis, wrote the authors of the study.
With over 90 percent of ingestions occurring at home, researchers called on educating caregivers on the need to store cannabis products in locked containers in a location unknown to children.
Not only should cannabis products be placed in child-resistant packaging, but they should be in opaque packages with simple labels, the authors wrote. In addition, there should be clear warning labels on the product cautioning against excessive use.
Some US states, including California, have already implemented such measures, but there are no nationwide laws regarding how cannabis products are packaged.