By Chase Rader
On May 15th, a child in New York was taken to the ER after accidentally consuming cannabis-infused candy he found inside his fathers car. Now, barely two weeks later we’re seeing nearly the exact same situation play out, but with more severe consequences for the parent.
Saturday, a mother in New Mexico took her two daughters, age 3 and 5, to the hospital after they were found eating a cannabis-infused cookie she had left inside the car. Rather than facing misdemeanor charges like Ephraim Zagelbaum, this mother may be charged with a 3rd degree felony for child endangerment, even though her children were fine.
Because it is virtually impossible to truly overdose on edibles, and the fact that more kids drink hand sanitizer, eat dryer pods, and swallow harmful painkillers per year than cannabis, many will view concerns over accidental consumption as “reefer madness” and cannabis hysteria, but there are very valid reasons to be concerned. States like Arkansas and Florida tried to ban the sale of cannabis infused-foods altogether and many states cite the “danger of edibles” as a reason why they don’t want to legalize cannabis.
Luckily, these situations can be completely avoided by marking edibles.
Obviously parents shouldn’t leave edibles where their kids can find them, but children shouldn’t have to be punished for the mistakes of their parents! Marking cannabis-infused foods with a Green Cross gives children AND adults an easy way to identify whether the food they’re about to eat contains cannabis.
A study has shown that children as young as 3 years old can associate and understand the meaning of symbols. If edibles manufacturers begin voluntarily marking their products with the Green Cross, children can be taught NEVER to eat any food they find marked with a Green Cross or else it will make them very sick.
Yes, parents should absolutely store their edibles safely. However, marking edibles gives children a way to make safe, informed decisions about whether something is safe to eat -whether found on the school bus, at a quinceañera, at a park in it’s original package, or irresponsibly left out by a parent.
Original story from Gephardt Daily by Laura Withers
https://gephardtdaily.com/local/1-marijuana-cookie-2-young-children-3rd-degree-felony-charges/