A new and alarming reality is emerging: weed-related sickness in kids is spreading at record speed, and the consequences are devastating. This is not a minor side effect. It is a condition that leaves young people vomiting uncontrollably, doubled over in pain, and rushed to hospital beds.

The marijuana industry, eager to push its product as safe and normal, rarely admits to this danger. Yet the evidence from hospitals tells a story that parents, communities, and policymakers cannot afford to ignore.

Hospital Cases Skyrocketing

Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard University tracked emergency cases linked to this marijuana illness between 2016 and 2023. The numbers should alarm every parent.

Emergency visits caused by weed-related sickness in kids shot up tenfold in just seven years. Among 13- to 21-year-olds, cases surged from 160.4 per million visits in 2016 to a staggering 1,968.3 per million in 2023, rising at an average of 49% per year.

This is not a coincidence. It is a direct outcome of greater cannabis use among young people.

Why This Marijuana Illness is Spreading

Doctors are sounding the alarm: frequent, long-term cannabis use is directly linked to weed-related sickness in kids. As legalisation spreads and dispensaries multiply, access to cannabis becomes easier, especially for youth.

The result is a growing marijuana illness crisis that is hitting children and teenagers hardest.

A Threat That Cannot Be Ignored

Cannabis has been sold to the public as harmless, even healthy. But the rise of weed-related sickness in kids is proof that the opposite is true. Families are paying the price, with young people ending up in hospital beds instead of classrooms, suffering from an illness that never needed to exist in the first place.

The science is undeniable: cannabis is making kids sick, and the damage will only grow unless communities take this threat seriously. Normalising and commercialising cannabis has opened the door to widespread harm, and now children are carrying the consequences.

Source: The Drug Report