Cannabis-Related Calls to the California Poison Control System, 2016–2023

Below is a snapshot of the statewide cannabis-related calls to the California Poison Control System from 2016 to 2023.

Graphs are available for three different types of data:

Intention: This includes the intention of cannabis exposure. The categories are: Intentional, Unintentional, and Unknown or Other.
Mode: This includes different methods of cannabis use, which are not mutually exclusive. The categories are: Dried Plant, Edible Preparation, Concentrated Extract, E-cigarettes, and Unknown or Other (which includes Unknown, Oral Capsule or Pill, Topical, Undried Plant, or Other Preparation). Find more information about how cannabis is used.
Sex: This includes information about the patient’s sex. The categories are: female and male. These categories when combined may not equal the total number of calls because of missing sex information for some patients.

How to Use:

There are two ways you can view the dashboard: 1) number of calls (First tab) and 2) rate of calls (Second tab). For the rate of calls, the crude rate is available for all age groups, and the age-adjusted rate is presented for the overall population only.

To view the data, select each filter on the menu on the right side: Colorblind, Data, Age Group (for top graph only) or Year (for bottom graph only), and Which Rate? (second tab only).

Colorblind?: Select “Yes” to the colorblind filter to change the color palette of the graphs to ensure ease of viewing.
Data: Select intention, mode, or sex data from this menu.
Age Group: The data can be viewed by the overall population (i.e., all ages) or by patient age group by selecting different age ranges.
Year: The data can be viewed by year of cannabis-related calls by selecting one or more years for number of calls and one year for rate of calls.
Which Rate?: The data can be viewed by either crude rate (for available age groups and for overall population) or age-adjusted rate (for overall population only).

Download the Cannabis Poison Control System Calls Dashboard Data.

Data Highlights:

The age-adjusted rate of cannabis-related calls increased from 2.20 per 100,000 population in 2016 to 6.37 per 100,000 population in 2023. Overall, the total number of cannabis-related calls increased by 163% from 850 calls in 2016 to 2,234 calls in 2023. Although there was an overall increase in cannabis-related calls to the California Poison Control System from 2016 to 2023, the largest increases were seen in cannabis exposure among children and youth.

469% increase in the total number of calls related to cannabis exposure among children aged 5 years and under.
147% increase in the total number of calls related to cannabis exposure among those aged 6–19 years.
68% increase in the total number of calls related to cannabis exposure among those aged 20 years and older.

Particularly, for children aged 5 years and under, the total number of cannabis-related calls has increased substantially since 2016. The increase in calls was primarily driven by increases in the total number of cannabis-related calls due to exposure to a cannabis edible, which increased 971% from 2017 to 2023 among children aged 5 years and under. Notably, in 2023, 38% of the total number of calls were related to cannabis exposure among children aged 5 years and under.

Table: Cannabis-related Calls to the California Poison Control System by Age Group for 2016 and 2023.

Count (Crude Rate per 100,000 Population)

Year	5 years and under	6 to 19 years	20 years and older
2016	148 (4.93)	256 (3.45)	439 (1.52)
2023	842 (33.01)	633 (9.00)	739 (2.51)

Among children and youth, exposure to a cannabis edible was responsible for the majority of the cannabis-related calls to the California Poison Control System in 2023.

Exposure to a cannabis edible accounted for:

65% of calls for those aged 5 years and under
60% of calls for those aged 6–19 years
46% of calls for those aged 20 years and older

Calls to the California Poison Control System for both intentional and unintentional cannabis exposures have increased from 2016 to 2023, although the increase was greater for unintentional cannabis exposure.

483% increase in the total number of calls related to unintentional cannabis exposure among children aged 5 years and under.
413% increase in the total number of calls related to unintentional cannabis exposure among those aged 6–19 years, and a 78% increase in calls related to intentional cannabis exposure.
105% increase in the total number of calls related to unintentional cannabis exposure among those aged 20 years and older, and a 43% increase in calls related to intentional cannabis exposure.

Table: Cannabis-related Calls to the California Poison Control System by Intention and Age Group for 2016 and 2023.

Count (Crude Rate per 100,000 Population)

Year	Intention	5 years and under	6 to 19 years	20 years and older
2016	Intentional	N/A	180 (2.43)	265 (0.92)
2016	Unintentional	144 (4.80)	52 (0.70)	98 (0.34)
2023	Intentional	N/A	321 (4.57)	379 (1.29)
2023	Unintentional	839 (32.89)	267 (3.80)	201 (0.68)

Prevention Implications:

The largest increases in cannabis-related calls to the California Poison Control System were regarding unintentional exposure among children and youth. Among children 5 years and younger, cannabis edibles exposure was the main reason for the increase in calls. Cannabis edibles can be easily mistaken for regular food and candy and unknowingly eaten by children. Due to a child’s smaller size and weight, children are more sensitive to the effects of cannabis and are at higher risk for cannabis poisoning.

Unintentional cannabis exposure is preventable. Cannabis exposure awareness, education, and prevention can help reduce related harms. Notably, educating adults on the safe storage of cannabis products is crucial.

Educating youth about the risks and consequences of consuming cannabis products is important for reducing the negative impacts of cannabis use among youth and young adults. Parents and guardians can educate their teens about warning labels on cannabis products and how cannabis use can impact their health.

For more information, please visit the following resources:

Data Sources:

The California Poison Control System (CPCS) provides data on the number of calls by intention, mode, age group, and sex.

For the rate (crude and age-adjusted) calculations, the following data sources were used:

Denominator: Denominators are population projections from the California Department of Finance.
Age Adjustment: 2000 U.S. Standard Population (Census P25-1130) data.

Suggested Citation for the Dashboard: California Department of Public Health, Substance and Addiction Prevention Branch. Cannabis Poison Control System Calls Dashboard [online]. 2024. [accessed date]. URL: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/sapb/cannabis/Pages/Cannabis-Poison-Control-System-Calls-Dashboard.aspx.

What’s New

Administrative

Diseases and Conditions

Family Health

Health and Safety

Health Facilities

Personal Health and Prevention

Licensing, Certification and Other Credentials

Person Interested In

Substance and addiction prevention branch

Cannabis-Related Calls to the California Poison Control System, 2016–2023​​