(National Institutes of Health) PURPOSE: Drug treatment can be effective in community-based settings, but drug users tend to underuse these treatment options and instead seek services in emergency departments (EDs) and other acute care settings. The goals of this study were to describe prevalence and correlates of drug-related ED visits.
BASIC PROCEDURES: This study used data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, which is a nationally representative survey of 43 093 US residents.
MAIN FINDINGS: The overall prevalence of drug-related ED visits among lifetime drug users was 1.8%; for those with a lifetime drug use disorder, 3.7%. Persons with heroin dependence and inhalant dependence had the highest rates of ED visits, and marijuana dependence was associated with the lowest rates. Multivariate analyses revealed that being socially connected (ie, marital status) was a protective factor against ED visits, whereas psychopathology (ie, personality or mood disorders) was a risk factor.
CONCLUSIONS: Significant variability exists for risk of ED use for different types of drugs. These findings can help inform where links between EDs with local treatment programs can be formed to provide preventive care and injury-prevention interventions to reduce the risk of subsequent ED visits.
Translation: despite what prohibitionists want you to believe about the supposed flood of cannabis users into the emergency room because of the super-addictive, incredibly potent, Not Your Father’s Woodstock Weed™, pot smokers out of all “drug users” are the least likely to visit the emergency room from using their drug. And that’s the lowest that’s below the average prevalence of 1.8% of users, lifetime. So I’ll go out on a limb here and bet you that not one out of five hundred cannabis consumers has ever gone to an emergency room over pot.
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@The Bluzguy. DAWN tracks ER-mentions of cannabis, like the scenario you described above. This study defined ED visits differently. The drug use had to be the reason for the ED visit. This is the first study to use national data to assess the prevalence risk of cannabis causing an ED visit compared to other substances.
Among those surveyed, subjects that reported using cannabis were the least likely to report an ED visit (1.71 percent). Respondents who reported lifetime use of heroin, tranquilizers, and inhalants were most likely (18.5 percent, 6.3 percent, and 6.2 percent respectively) to report experiencing one or more ED visits related to their drug use.
An important fact to remember is that “marijuana-related” ER visits generally refer to anyone who admits to cannabis use while there. If you cut your finger badly enough to need to go to the ER and admit to cannabis use, it’s usually included in “marijuana-related” visit statistics. It’s hard for me to imagine anyone feeling the need for an ER visit solely because they ingested cannabis, unless we’re talking about a first-timer with no experience, and also without the company of an experienced user.
It is sensible to tell a treating doctor if you’ve used any substance, legal or otherwise, to help inform them in their treatment decisions. Patient-physician confidentiality (while not always observed) is supposed to protect us, and I wouldn’t want a doctor to think my red eyes might be an indication of something else if it were simply because I toked a bit earlier.
Assuming the statistics in this article are correct, that would indicate to me cannabis use is down, at least among those showing up in the ER.