A one-year-old baby who accidentally swallowed a piece of cannabis resin ended up in the emergency room on January 1. His parents will be summoned to court in Le Mans on March 14.
Two young parents spent their first January in police custody after their one-year-old baby swallowed a piece of cannabis resin. They will be summoned to court in Le Mans on March 14 for “evasion by a parent of his legal obligations”.
The newspaper West France reports that a 25-year-old man and his 24-year-old ex-girlfriend spent New Year’s Eve together. Installed at the latter, in Le Mans, they rolled a joint in the afternoon, dropping a piece of cannabis on the ground, without being able to find it. Awakened from his nap, their little boy swallowed it without anyone noticing.
The sleepiness of the child ends up alerting his parents
Fortunately, the child’s drowsiness ends up alerting his parents, who call for help. The baby, transferred to the emergency room of Le Mans hospital, was still under observation on the evening of January 2, even if his life is no longer in danger. Placed in police custody by the Le Mans police, the father and mother admitted the facts.
Children require constant vigilance, especially toddlers, who put everything that comes to hand into their mouths. This was recently recalled the ANSM, reporting a constant increase, since 2014, in the number of poisonings by accidental ingestion of cannabis, mainly among children under 2 years of age. In general, this type of incident occurs in a family context, with an upsurge during the summer period and during the holiday season.
5 times more severe cases
The agency therefore again alerts “health professionals and the general public to the seriousness of these intoxications, often underestimated, which very frequently lead to hospitalization”. A first investigation into poisoning by accidental ingestion of cannabis in children was carried out in 2015 on data from 2010 to 2014. The updating of these data was carried out over the period from January 1, 2015 to September 30, 2017.
Result: all the indicators are red. There were twice as manypoisoning, 2.5 times more hospitalizations, and 5 times more serious cases. The first survey reported 140 cases of intoxication versus 194 cases for the second. The number of serious life-threatening cases, requiring admission to intensive care, increased from 9 children out of 140 to 27 children out of 194. Ten children were hospitalized for more than 48 hours, including one for 11 days. Children under 2 years old remain the most affected (the youngest is 7 months old, the oldest 5 years old). Fortunately, no deaths have been reported so far.
Main symptoms
The main symptoms found in young children who have accidentally ingested cannabis are: drowsiness (56%), restlessness (30%), mydriasis (27%), hypotonia (20%), tachycardia (10%), coma (10%) , bradypnea (8%), convulsions (8%). “In the event of ingestion or suspicion of ingestion of cannabis, the emergency structures (Samu Centers 15) must be immediately notified”, indicates the ANSM. The agency also reminds “pediatric emergency services of the need for a systematic search for cannabis (urine and/or blood and/or hair) in children who present clinical signs compatible with this intoxication.”
The risks incurred by children during cannabis poisoning are all the greater as the delta-9-THC is high. However, according to the OFDT, this substance contained in cannabis resin has tripled in ten years. Remember that the consumption and possession of cannabis are prohibited in France. Exposing your child to it can result in a prison sentence.
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