Washington, DC—The Albany Times Union editorial board – responding to a new state Department of Health report showing child cannabis poisonings in New York have doubled since 2016 — acknowledged this week that opponents of legalization “warned during the debate over legalization that edible cannabis products resembling candy or snacks could end up in children’s hands,” adding: “Those warnings proved prescient.”
SAM President and CEO, Dr. Kevin Sabet, issued the following statement:
“The New York State Department of Health issued a report in the run up to legalization attempting to downplay the harms of legalization. Lawmakers claimed legalization would protect health, not hurt it. For the past five years, New Yorkers have been told our warnings were overblown. Now: the very same health department reports child cannabis poisonings have doubled and emergency visits among children under five have risen nearly 40-fold. We take no satisfaction in being right; the carnage was and is still totally avoidable. Lawmakers must act immediately to pare back this industry. Massachusetts will vote to repeal marijuana commercialization this November. Now is the time to reconsider the promises of Big Marijuana for the Empire state.”
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The New York State report found cannabis poisoning is now the leading poisoning diagnosis resulting in pediatric hospital admissions in New York. State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald, a pediatrician for 36 years, said the acceptable number of poisonings “should be zero.”
SAM’s repeated warnings over the past 7 years:
March 5, 2019 — Two years before the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) passed, Dr. Sabet warned in the Times Union that “THC-based gummies, candies and sodas are colorful and marketed to attract young eyes,” urging Albany “to slow down and consider the costs” of a “massive social experiment.”
February 10, 2020 — Dr. Sabet returned to the same pages with “Cannabis isn’t harmless, and it shouldn’t be commercialized.”
February 23, 2021 — Weeks before the MRTA vote, Dr. Sabet submitted testimony to New York’s Joint Legislative Budget Hearing quoting the National Academies of Sciences: “In states where cannabis use is legal, there is increased risk of unintentional cannabis overdose injuries among children.” The same testimony warned that “legalization will reinforce, not diminish, the black market for marijuana.” The Legislature had that document in hand when it voted yes.
March 2021 — SAM Executive Vice President Luke Niforatos warned in a published column that legalization delivers not personal freedom but “a massive addiction-for-profit Big Tobacco 2.0 industry hell-bent on addicting our kids,” fueled by candy-flavored products and an illicit market that thrives alongside the legal one.
April 8, 2021 — On the day the NY Legislature approved a standalone bill to legalize marijuana and establish a commercial market for its sale, Dr. Sabet’s statement was unequivocal: “Even if you believe in the rights of adults to smoke a joint, this is a very bad bill.” He warned it would expose more children to high-potency THC that damages developing brains.
Five years later, the Times Union concedes that “illicit cannabis stores flourished for years while regulators struggled to launch the legal market” and that “the state’s enforcement efforts continue to be outpaced by the illicit market.” Nationally, pediatric accidental edible exposures rose 1,375 percent from 2017 to 2021.
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