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80 Ohio St. L.J. 201 (2019)
High Standards: The Wave of Marijuana Legalization Sweeping America Ignores the Hidden Risks of Edibles

handle is hein.journals/ohslj80 and id is 213 raw text is: 




    High Standards: The Wave of Marijuana
    Legalization Sweeping America Ignores the
                  Hidden Risks of Edibles

           STEVE P. CALANDRILLO* AND KATELYN FULTON**

   As a tide of marijuana legalization sweeps across the United States,
   there is a surprising lack of scrutiny as to whether the benefits of
   recreational marijuana outweigh the risks. Notably, marjuana edibles
   present special risks to the population that are not present in smoked
   marijuana. States that have legalized recreational marijuana are seeing
   an increase in edible-related calls to poison control centers and visits
   to emergency rooms. These negative reactions are especially prevalent
   in vulnerable populations such as children, persons with underlying
   preexisting conditions, and out-of-state marijuana novices.

   Unfortunately, research on edible marijuana is scant and state
   regulatory regimes are not adequately accounting for the special risks
   that edibles pose. Edibles are metabolized differently than smoked
   marijuana, resulting in late-onset, longer-lasting, and unpredictable
   intoxication. Novices are particularly vulnerable because of inaccurate
   dosing and delayed highs. Children are also at risk because edibles are
   often packaged as chocolate and other forms of candy to which
   unsuspecting kids are attracted. To minimize these risks and maximize
   the social utility received from mariuana edibles, further study of their
   effects is required and potentially tighter regulations may be necessary.
   These measures will take time to accomplish, and in the interim state-
   implemented restrictions on marijuana edibles may be necessary to halt
   the increase of edible-related harms and hospitalizations.

                          TABLE OF CONTENTS

I.  INTRODUCTION   ............................................................................... 203
II. THE LAWS AND REGULATIONS THAT GOVERN MARIJUANA ........... 206
    A. Brief Overview of Cannabis and Its History ............................ 206
    B. The Rise ofAnti-Marijuana Laws in the United States ............ 207


    * Jeffrey & Susan Brotman Professor of Law, University of Washington School of
Law, stevecal@uw.edu. J.D., Harvard Law School, B.A. in Economics, U.C. Berkeley.
    ** University of Washington School of Law, B.A. in Biology, Washington State
University.
The Authors wish to thank Chryssa Deliganis, Anna Deliganis, Nick Calandrillo, Karen
Boxx, Tres Gallant, and Lauren Sancken for inspiration and helpful comments on prior
drafts. Our gratitude as well to the Jeffrey & Susan Brotman Professorship for its generous
financial support.

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