AURORA, Colo.— A study presented in a medical journal last August tracks the number of hospital visits for marijuana-related issues, showing a significant increase in the number of adolescents seeking care for problems encountered with the drug.  
Dr. Sam Wang and his colleagues, who staff emergency rooms and urgent care centers at Children’s Hospital Colorado (Children’s Colorado) located at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, conducted the study. Doctors across the state report seeing a rise in marijuana related emergency room/urgent care facility visits.
Wang said “a lot more kids” have tested positive for marijuana or have encountered problems from using the drug since it was legalized in 2012. This contradicts findings reported in national and state data from 2015, which show no increase in youth admitting to using or trying the drug.
Based on those seen at Children’s Colorado emergency rooms and urgent care clinics from 2005 to 2015, Wang and fellow care providers recorded the results of marijuana-related diagnostic codes and urine tests showing positive for marijuana in adolescents 13 to 21.
The results of their study, “Impact of Marijuana Legalization in Colorado on Adolescent Emergency and Urgent Care Visits,” were presented in the Journal of Adolescent Health, August 2018 issue. The results showed a much greater increaser than those conducting the research anticipated.
Yearly visits for marijuana totaled 161 in 2005. In 2015, visits skyrocketed to 777, and this reflected only one year of legalized recreational use for 2015 in addition to five previous years of legal use for medical purposes. Behavioral health evaluations accounted for 67 percent of the visits. The research director involved in the study reported that many of the youth seen at the hospital constituted a segment of the population already at high risk for substance abuse.
Behavioral health evaluations for those admitting to marijuana use or testing positive for use also climbed dramatically during the same time period, from 84 to 500. A total of 71 percent of youth represented in the diagnostic code or positive urine sample category were additionally diagnosed with a mental health issue.
The study reveals a large gap between those reporting use and those who actually use the drug, researchers noted. They attribute this discrepancy to a recent report in one study that shows many of these youth are either vaping cannabis or consuming high THC potency edibles, changing the quality and quantity of the use.
Researchers noted that based on their findings, there needs to be better regulation of cannabis and education regarding the impact of marijuana use on adolescent cognitive abilities and academic achievement. To view the full article and study links, visit https://www.uchealth.org/today/2019/02/07/marijuana-related-hospital-visits-up-for-adolescents/

CDPHE report cites
newer 2017 usage info
More recent statistics quoted from a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) study conducted in 2018, based on 2017 statistics, show frequency of use has declined or remained the same among adolescents and has been stable since 2005. An uptick in dabbing and edibles consumption was noted in reports made by high school students. Edibles and “dab” contain significantly higher amounts of THC.
The CDPHE report also listed concerns about the rise in breastfeeding moms who consume marijuana, second-hand exposure of children to marijuana and the increasing frequency of use among adult marijuana users. The report also mentions encouraging trends but continues to compare usage with alcohol consumption, when alcohol lacks the psychoactive component THC contained in marijuana. To view this report, go to colorado.gov/marijuanahealthinfo
Why the discrepancies?
The question remains, what accounts for these broad discrepancies in data? The controls used to conduct the Children’s Hospital report provides the answer. While the Healthy Kids and CDPHE surveys often used as trusted references for marijuana usage rely primarily on self-reporting, statistics reported by the Children’s Hospital team also were backed up by urine tests for presence of the drug and analyzation of diagnostic codes.
A sampling of Internet articles discussing the reliability of self-reporting questionnaires as sole indicators of behavior shows reservations even among the experts regarding the usefulness and reliability of self-reporting. While admitting it should not be excluded as a worthwhile tool in conducting research, many also were careful to place qualifications on how it was used and suggested it be cross referenced with co-existing data collected by other means to confirm accuracy.
Especially when reports contain wide gaps in the amount of usage and its side effects, it seems reasonable, as one report suggests, to investigate the cause of such divergence in data and until the cause is determined, to reserve judgment on its validity.
Youth marijuana use contributes to mental illness
The Children’s Hospital study and some findings reported by CDPHE confirms what Alex Berenson, author of Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence, reports in his book. Berenson cites studies by British and Australian researchers that show alarming statistics regarding marijuana use and mental disorders.
Severe mental illness has been linked to cannabis use in respected studies for over two decades. Brain changes in adolescents have been observed that are known to contribute to mental illness. The most concerning of these is a series of large studies, one surveying some 50,000 in 1987. These studies show teens who use cannabis are at a much higher risk of developing schizophrenia, the most devastating mental illness.
As explained in other articles published in the Center Post-Dispatch, the likelihood of developing Marijuana Use Disorder also escalates with use in the teen years. This disorder is associated with a myriad of psychiatric symptoms.
Berenson also warns parents that the general population is being subjected to propaganda used by Big Tobacco decades ago to hook millions on tobacco products. Cigarette companies downplayed cancer risks to the public for years, using the media as their platform, reports show. Berenson urges parents, especially, not to let history repeat itself.