A new US study has uncovered a startling rise in cannabis exposures in children. Cases among the under six age group climbed by 6,386 per cent between 2000 and 2024. Raymond E. Bertino led the research at the Universities of Illinois and Wisconsin. He found a clear link between shifting federal marijuana policy and this growing pattern of marijuana exposure among children.

The findings come from America’s Poison Centers, a network covering all fifty states, Washington DC, and every populated US territory. Parents, carers, and healthcare providers all feed reports into the system. That is how researchers built such a detailed picture of cannabis exposures in children in the home.

Marijuana exposure among children stayed low for most of the 2000s. Poison centres logged fewer than 141 cases each year in children under six between 2000 and 2009. That stability did not last. Once federal policy started to shift, cases began climbing, and they have kept rising ever since.

A Sharp Rise in Cannabis Exposures in Children

The turning point came in 2009, when the US Justice Department issued the Ogden Memo. It told federal prosecutors to stop pursuing medical marijuana users in states that had legalised the drug for that purpose. Cases in children under six rose from 132 to 272 the following year, an early sign of the cannabis exposures in children still to come.

The Justice Department went further in 2013 with the Cole Memo. This extended similar guidance to states that had legalised recreational marijuana. Cases in the under six group jumped again, reaching 1,407 by 2018. The biggest shift arrived when Congress legalised hemp that same year. Cannabis exposures in children then exploded, climbing from 1,407 to 8,430 by 2024.

Marijuana Exposure Among Children Aged Six to Twelve Also Climbs

Older children fared no better. Exposures in this age group rose from zero in 2000 to 21 by 2009. That figure then surged to 2,894 in 2024, an increase of 13,781 per cent over twenty five years. This second wave of marijuana exposure among children closely tracks what happened in younger age groups, which suggests the same forces are at work.

Bertino and his colleagues describe these figures as a clear signal. Current policy, in their view, carries real consequences for child safety. Their study was accepted for publication on 29 April 2026 in the Journal of Addiction Medicine. It states plainly that cannabis exposures in children cause harm and that public health policy adjustments are warranted.

A Critical Moment for Drug Policy

The timing could hardly be more relevant. On 29 June 2026, the US Drug Enforcement Administration opened hearings on a proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. President Trump ordered this change through executive order. The hearings run until 15 July, and the outcome could shape how easily marijuana products reach households already seeing more cannabis exposures in children.

If rescheduling goes ahead, doctors would be able to prescribe cannabis based products that the US Food and Drug Administration has not approved. That prospect raises fresh questions about access and safety, since wider availability often means more products within reach at home. Given the trend already seen since 2000, researchers and clinicians are asking whether marijuana exposure among children could climb even higher once the drug becomes easier to obtain.

The data so far offer a sobering reminder of what has followed since federal policy began easing restrictions on marijuana. Cannabis exposures in children remain a measurable, growing part of that story. As lawmakers and regulators weigh their next steps, it is a trend that any change in scheduling will need to reckon with.

Source: dbrecoveryresources