Marijuana metabolites were found in the urine of infants who were all exposed to the use of marijuana smoke. Researchers discovered 16 percent of the total urine samples tested positive and 75 percent of the kids, whose caregivers have admitted that they exposed their children to marijuana smoke, who had hints of marijuana particles in their urine.
The study involves 43 young kids from Colorado, a state where leisure marijuana use is not illegal. The kids, age 1-month - 2-years-old, were taken to hospital for bronchiolitis condition. All the samples of their urine were delivered to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that utilized highly sensitive and new test which can spot super low amounts of marijuana metabolites.
Dr. Karen Wilson, lead author of the study and the Debra and Leon Black division chief of general pediatrics at Mount Sinai in New York, said it is their first time to be able to demonstrate that there are detectable marijuana metabolites in the urine of kids who have been exposed to marijuana. She also said there's a strong link between those who said there was somebody or caretaker who used marijuana and child having detectable marijuana levels.
In the end, the study suggested that marijuana smoke is not okay for kids and the researchers firmly believe that once they do the research to document secondhand marijuana exposure that they will see, there's a harmful effect on children. With this, doctors were more worried now as there are more than half of states, according to NPR, have laws legalizing medical use of marijuana.
Patients, who use marijuana for certain medication, tend to believe that marijuana smoke is a lot safer to the secondhand smoker than tobacco smoke. However Dr. David Beuther, an associate professor of medical and pulmonologist in Denver's National Jewish Health, said they're very wrong. He said there's no reason to believe that marijuana smoke exposure is any safer than cigarette smoke exposure, pointing to latest studies posted in the Journal of the American Heart Association suggesting marijuana smoke among rats is just as bad or even worse as cigarette smoke.
Dr. Beuther suspected that marijuana smoke could cause asthma, viral infections and other respiratory-related illnesses. Also, he speculated that it could even increase the chance of developing stroke and heart disease later in life."
