⚖️ More than a decade after a Beavercreek police officer shot and killed a customer inside Walmart, a settlement was reached in a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the family of John Crawford III.
🍺The owners of Bock Family Brewing in Washington Twp. are ready to pass the torch to someone else after operating the brewery since 2021.
🍬Also today, we take an in-depth look at the skyrocketing reports of marijuana poisoning among kids.
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Marijuana poisoning among kids skyrocketing in Ohio
A decade ago, the Ohio Poison Centers received just 11 calls all year about marijuana edible exposure involving young kids. Last year, they received more than 50 times that number.
• Surge in child exposures: Calls to Ohio Poison Centers about young children ingesting marijuana edibles have surged from just 11 in 2015 to 582 in 2024.
• Edibles behind most cases: The majority of cannabis poisonings in kids under age 6 involve edibles, which often resemble regular sweets like gummies, cookies, and chocolates.
• What they are saying: “We see one of these every day,” said Hannah Hays, medical director of the Central Ohio Poison Center and chief of toxicology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “Most of the cannabis poisonings in young children under 6 are edibles.”
• Delayed effects: The effects of edibles can take 30 to 60 minutes to kick in, which means that children may consume large doses of THC before they or anyone else realize they are displaying symptoms of a marijuana overdose.
• Sales boom: Since recreational marijuana sales began in August 2024, Ohioans have purchased 4.2 million THC edibles, or $91 million worth of product.
• Other sales: In addition, Ohio’s dispensaries have sold more than $344 million worth of recreational marijuana plant products and $225 million worth of vape cartridges and oils across the state.
• Dispensaries: Ohio now has 158 marijuana dispensaries, including seven in Montgomery County, five in Butler County, four in Warren County, two in Miami and Clark counties, and one in Greene County.
• Health risks: Children who consume THC edibles can experience serious symptoms such as anxiety, dizziness, hallucinations, seizures, and in rare cases, coma or respiratory failure.
• Precautions: Experts and state officials stress the importance of storing cannabis products in lockboxes or high, secure places, away from food and out of reach of children.