A new study has linked the legalization of cannabis with a rise in the number of Ontario seniors visiting emergency rooms. The number of people aged 65 and over checking into ERs in Ontario for what amounted to cannabis poisoning grew sharply over an eight-year period, particularly after cannabis was legalized, according to the report published Monday in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine. "These are not people getting too high, being giddy and laughing," said Dr.

Nathan Stall, a geriatric specialist at Sinai Health in Toronto and lead author of the report. "These are people very sick to the point where health-care practitioners, without knowing that they've consumed cannabis, consider other serious health conditions, like stroke, serious infection (and) serious metabolic abnormalities." Top health headlines, all in one place Capital Dispatch: Sign up for the latest in federal politics and why it matters The study examined three periods over eight years, using deidentified Ontario Ministry of Health administrative data to get a sense of shifts in ER visits by older adults.

The first window covered pre-legalization spanning from early 2015 until just before legalization in October 2018, while the second period started when dried cannabis sales were rolled out. The third span covered nearly three years after edibles were introduced into the market in January 2020. The study reported the pre-legalization rate of emergency room visits among older adults, whi.