CANNABIS POISONING IN TODDLERS PROMPTS DOCTOR'S WARNING

Five toddlers have been admitted to Wellington Hospital with cannabis
poisoning in the past six years, prompting a warning for parents to lock
away all hazardous substances.

Wellington School of Medicine senior pediatrics lecturer Thorsten Stanley
said that though cannabis was not the most prevalent form of poisoning, he
was concerned that it occurred at all.

Wellington was one of five North Island hospitals to participate in a study
by Wanganui doctor John Goldsmith that showed 33 children under the age of
two-and-a-half had been admitted with cannabis poisoning.

Dr Goldsmith feared this number was just the tip of the iceberg.

Dr Stanley said far more than five toddlers could have been admitted to
Wellington Hospital with cannabis poisoning, but many patients would not
have been tested for cannabis.

He said two of the small patients - who had been aged between eight months
and two-and-three-quarter years - had been admitted to the intensive care
unit. The length of their stay had varied between a few hours and three days.

There had been no deaths - it would be rare for someone to die from a
cannabis overdose, he said.

"Often the child comes in very drowsy or unconscious, and parents may
realise what has caused it, but won't let on because the substance is
illegal. Other times parents don't realise what their child has eaten."

It was important for parents to lock away hazardous substances that young
children could put in their mouths, he said.

Hutt Hospital emergency department head Don Mackie said there were no
records of toddlers being admitted with cannabis poisoning, but a
10-year-old was brought in last week.