Poisoned tots and other ugly consequences of Albany’s bungled weed legalization
- Child emergency room visits for marijuana poisonings in New York have doubled from about 1,200 in 2016 to nearly 2,400 in 2024, with toddler cases rising over 1,600%, surpassing poisonings from common painkillers.
- The state Department of Health reports that 16% of teens who regularly use cannabis develop Cannabis Use Disorder, compared to 10% of adult starters, while national data link legalized pot to increased psychotic and bipolar disorders in young adults.
- Then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins rushed marijuana legalization primarily for political ambitions and tax revenue, ignoring these health risks and leading to regulatory dysfunction.
- Despite initial underestimations of legalization’s consequences, current leaders including Gov. Kathy Hochul are urged to acknowledge these issues and reconsider the state's marijuana policies to address the public health impact.
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Skyrocketing child ER admissions for marijuana poisonings are the latest sign of how poorly then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature’s leaders thought through pot legalization.
The state Department of Health just reported that cannabis-poisoning-related emergency-room visits have doubled, from roughly 1,200 in 2016 to nearly 2,400 in 2024.
And the rise in ER admits was over 1,600% for toddlers, as pot-poisoning (i.e., edibles and candies) incidents exceeded those involving Tylenol, aspirin and other painkillers combined.
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The DOH also found that 16% of teens who regularly use cannabis will develop Cannabis Use Disorder compared to about 10% of people who only start using as adults.
National studies show that states with legalized pot have seen spikes in psychotic and bipolar disorders among young adults.
All these issues got ignored as Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins rushed to decriminalize marijuana and legalizing commercial sales.
Cuomo was chasing his presidential ambitions; Democratic lawmakers wanted a tax-revenue windfall.
Together, they own the results, including the spike in poisoned tots and the new generation of marijuana-addled teens — as well as the continued dysfunction of the state Office of Cannabis Management.
To be fair: A lot of us didn’t expect pot legalization to come with so many unintended consequences.
But that doesn’t excuse Heastie, Stewart-Cousins and Gov. Kathy Hochul from facing the facts, even if it means rethinking legalization altogether.