With the legalization of marijuana on the horizon, it’s not just the younger generation who are experimenting with cannabis. Members of all segments of the population are sampling marijuana in all of its forms—and for some inexperienced users, that means an uptick in emergency room visits for accidental cannabis overdose.
CBC came to our Novus Health offices to discuss the issue with our Medical Director, Dr. Michael Szabo.
From his work as an emergency room physician, Dr. Szabo has seen this first-hand. “We’re seeing a lot of people out there who are accidentally ingesting huge amounts of cannabis, and they’re not realizing that what they’re taking in is excessive,” he explains.
In fact, the number of emergency room visits related to cannabis in Ontario has nearly tripled over the last five years.
According to Dr. Szabo, cannabis edibles are a big part of the problem. They will not be legalized until sometime next year, which means there is not yet any regulation or labelling required. That means there’s a dearth of public health messaging on the topic—and new users of cannabis can have little idea of how much is appropriate for them to ingest, or how long it will take for the effects to take hold.
Dr. Szabo’s suggestion? If you’re planning to try a cannabis product for the first time, make sure to tell those around you what you’re doing, and have someone keep an eye on you for any worrying symptoms.
For more on this story, watch the full clip here.
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