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Cannabis and safety

How can I keep my child safe?

Keep cannabis locked up.

Cannabis in the household must be treated with the same level of caution as alcohol, prescription medications, and cleaning products. Any form of cannabis products (for example oils and edibles) should be kept in child-resistant packaging in a secure area that is locked and out of reach of children. This includes cannabis paraphernalia, such as lighters, matches, and vaporizers. Make sure children do not have access to cannabis plants that are being grown either indoors or outdoors. 

 

Can you tell the difference? Kids can't. Be cannabis wise. Lock it up.

 

If your child has accidentally ingested cannabis products go to your local emergency department or call 9-1-1 immediately.

Ontario Poison Centre: 1.844.764.7669 (toll-free)

Protect children from second-hand smoke.

Avoid smoking or vaporizing cannabis indoors or around children. Cannabis contains the same harmful cancer-causing chemicals as cigarette smoke, and cannabis secondhand smoke also contains THC1,2. Third-hand exposure is also a risk and happens when residual chemicals linger on clothing and surfaces. Not smoking is the best way to protect your child from second-hand smoke2. If you are planning on using cannabis, refer to Canada’s Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines (PDF).

Have a safety plan.

Using cannabis may reduce your attention span, decision making, and ability to react to emergencies. Being high while parenting can cause you to miss hunger cues from your child, signs of danger, cues for comfort needs, or your child communicating the desire to play or learn. It may also impact interactions with your child, and your child’s relationship with you or attachment to you.

It is important to be alert while parenting. If you do choose to use cannabis while parenting, make sure that there is someone available who is not impaired to help care for your child.

For more guidance and information you can access Health Canada’s resource on Cannabis and Parenting or the guide from Best Start on The Risks of Cannabis on Fertility, Pregnancy, Breastfeeding and Parenting (PDF).

Have the “cannabis conversation”.

It’s important to talk with your child early and openly about cannabis. The Guiding Principles of Education (PDF) is a helpful resource to prepare parents and educators for conversations about cannabis with their children and students.  Drug Free Kids Canada’s Cannabis Talk Kit, has important facts, scripts, and talking points to support your conversations.

What does a cannabis overdose or “greening out” look like?

“Greening out” is the term often used when someone uses too much cannabis or has a negative reaction to getting high from cannabis. Some signs that a person has had too much cannabis or is greening out include3:

Although greening out isn’t fatal, it can be a very unpleasant and scary experience. Be especially cautious when cannabis may have been consumed, knowingly or unknowingly with other drugs or alcohol. Different drugs may have harmful effects when combined with cannabis. Know when you should get help3.

If the person who is greening out is showing signs of alcohol poisoning such as3:

Call 9-1-1 immediately and stay with the person until help arrives.

For more information on how to avoid greening out and tips and tricks on how to support someone who is greening out, visit Get Sensible’s resource, A Sensible Guide to (NOT) Greening Out.

Is it safe to drive after using cannabis?

No, it is not safe to drive after using cannabis4. Cannabis impairment can last, unknowingly, for a prolonged period of time (up to 24 hours)5. Driving after using cannabis can lead to an injury to yourself or someone you care about, a license suspension, an arrest, and even a criminal record4. Impaired driving is 100% preventable.

If you have used cannabis, plan to get home safely. Here are some alternate ways to get home:

Learn about the federal government’s nationwide Impaired Driving (Government of Canada) campaign, which aims to educate Canadians about the safety and legal risks of drug-impaired driving.

Public Health Sudbury & Districts is not responsible for the enforcement of impaired driving and advises the public to direct their questions about impaired driving to the local police service. If you see someone driving while impaired, call 9-1-1.

I have heard that it’s safer to eat cannabis than it is to smoke it. Is this true?

Smoking cannabis on a regular basis can hurt your lungs and make it harder to breathe. From a harm reduction perspective, you may wish to choose other ways to use cannabis, such as using vaporizers or edibles instead; however, these forms also come with some risks. For example, edibles are safer for your lungs, but you may consume larger doses of THC and experience more severe impairment because psychoactive effects are delayed4.

Even though cannabis edibles will not harm your lungs and cause difficulties breathing over time, risks of using cannabis in other forms like edibles include5:

What are the effects of cannabis second-hand smoke?

Any kind of smoke is harmful. In fact, studies have shown that cannabis smoke contains many of the same harmful substances as tobacco smoke. Similar to secondhand smoke from cigarettes, cannabis secondhand smoke can cause respiratory irritation, irritation of the eyes, and respiratory complications such as bronchitis, coughing and exacerbation of asthma or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Cannabis secondhand smoke also contains the psychoactive chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which can cause you to feel intoxicated or high1,2. More research is needed on cannabis secondhand smoke.

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, October 19). Secondhand Marijuana Smoke. https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/health-effects/second-hand-smoke.html
  2. Region of Waterloo Public Health. (n.d.). Second-hand cannabis smoke. Second-hand smoke. https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/health-and-wellness/second-hand-smoke.aspx
  3. Get Sensible. (n.d.) A sensible guide to (not) greening out. https://getsensible.org/tearawayresources/guide-to-not-greening-out/
  4. Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA). (2022b). Clearing the smoke on cannabis: Cannabis use and driving—An update. https://www.ccsa.ca/clearing-smoke-cannabis-cannabis-use-and-driving-update-0
  5. Bear, D. (2023). Cannabasics: A primer for health and social service providers. Canadian Public Health Association. https://substanceuse.ca/sites/default/files/2023-11/SURE_Cannabasics_FINAL.pdf
  6. (2022a). Clearing the smoke on cannabis: Highlights. https://www.ccsa.ca/clearing-smoke-cannabis-highlights

This item was last modified on September 10, 2024