• Posted September 1, 2026

Shocking Increase In Children Accidentally Eating Weed, Other Recreational Drugs

There’s been a shocking increase in the number of kids who’ve accidentally eaten recreational drugs left around by adults, a new study says.

The rate of accidental ingestions of recreational drugs among children younger than age 6 increased by more than 3,300% between 2000 and 2024, researchers report in the journal BMC Public Health.

Weed accounted for 85% of these reported ingestions, with edibles representing about half of all ingestions, researchers found.

“The recreational drug ingestion rate among children younger than 6 years reported to United States poison centers increased substantially over the study period, with increases especially pronounced for edible marijuana and psilocybin products,” said senior researcher Dr. Gary Smith in a news release. He is director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

As of March 1, 24 states, two U.S. territories and Washington, D.C., have enacted laws allowing recreational marijuana use by adults.

For the new study, researchers analyzed figures from the National Poison Data System gathered between 2000 and 2024. The team identified 41,612 accidental ingestions during that time among kids under age 6.

Results showed that the rate of weed ingestions increased by 2,349% from 2015 to 2024. This rise was driven by the ingestion rate of marijuana edibles, which has rapidly increased since 2013.

Ingestion rates for other substances included 8% for stimulants, 4% for psychedelics, 3% for opioids, researchers said.

Children younger than 2 represented nearly half of all ingestions, with 2-year-olds representing 26% and 1-year-olds, 23%.

Six deaths due to accidental drug ingestion occurred during the quarter-century covered by the study, all among children younger than 3, researchers noted.

Four of the deaths involved the synthetic opioid fentanyl and two involved cocaine, researchers said.

About half of the children experienced minor effects or none from eating recreational drugs, while 5% had symptoms that were potentially fatal or life-changing.

Children younger than 3 were 54% more likely to experience major side effects from ingestion, and 23% more likely to require critical care than children 3 to 5 years old, researchers found.

Most of the ingestions involved a single substance (96%) and occurred in a home (96%), researchers said.

“Because almost all exposures in our study occurred in a residence, parent and child caregiver education should emphasize keeping recreational drugs out of the home, or at a minimum, stored up, away and out of sight and reach of children, preferably in a locked location,” researcher Dr. Hannah Hays, medical director of the Central Ohio Poison Center, said in a news release.

“Adults should avoid using these products around young children, who naturally imitate adult behavior,” Hays added. “Edible preparations of recreational drugs may be appealing to toddlers because they resemble candy or food, and they often contain multiple servings in one package.”

More information

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has more on accidental drug exposures among young children.

SOURCES: Nationwide Children's Hospital, news release, Aug. 27, 2026; BMC Public Health, June 24, 2026