Toddlers made ill by dope

Thirty-three children under 2 1/2 have been admitted to North Island hospitals with cannabis poisoning in the past six years, says Wanganui paediatrician John Goldsmith.

Dr Goldsmith, who collected and collated the information from five North Island hospitals, said he had also received informal reports of cases in the South Island.

"It is a nationwide problem," he said. "I believe up to 100 children each year may be admitted to New Zealand hospitals but not all doctors recognise the symptoms.

"As most of the children recover within 12 hours, the doctors may not always do a urine test to find the cause of the child's coma or muscle spasms, so they are not identified to the health system."

Dr Goldsmith said that in all the North Island cases the children were aged between 8 months and 2 1/2 years and had either eaten cannabis oil from capsules they found lying around or had cannabis identified in their urine tests.

"Some may have deliberately been given cannabis or exposed to cannabis smoke."

All the children were drowsy but some were deeply unconscious and a number needed intensive care.

Some also needed tests such as spinal fluid collection or CT scans because the cause of their coma was not known, and about half the children had worrying symptoms such as slow breathing or muscle spasms which looked like convulsions.

Dr Goldsmith said parents were usually reluctant to admit their child had access to cannabis but often confirmed the suspicions of health workers when directly asked. "There needs to be much better education about the dangers."

- NZPA