If a child ate cannabis: what to do right now

Call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 right away, even if your child seems fine. In California, the call goes to the California Poison Control System. It is free, private and open 24 hours a day. Call 911 if your child has trouble breathing, has a seizure, or will not wake up.

By CHSA editorial team · Published 2026-10-04

Do this now

Stay with your child. Take the product away and keep the package.
Call 911 if your child will not wake up, has trouble breathing, has a seizure or uncontrollable shaking, or collapses or is extremely weak.¹
Otherwise, call Poison Help: 1-800-222-1222. Call even if your child seems fine. In California, the line is answered by the California Poison Control System.¹² The call is free and confidential. It is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with interpreters in more than 200 languages.¹
Have the package ready. Tell them the product name, how much THC the label says is in each serving and in the whole package, and how much your child may have eaten. California labels must show THC per serving and per package.⁴
Do not try to make your child throw up.⁹ The poison specialist will tell you what to do.²
Follow the specialist’s advice. Most people get the help they need over the phone and do not have to go to a doctor or hospital.² If your child’s symptoms seem severe, call 911 or go to an emergency room right away.⁸

Why call if your child seems fine?

Cannabis that is eaten can take 30 minutes to 2 hours to cause effects.⁷ The effects may be strongest 3 to 4 hours after eating.⁸ So a child may seem fine at first. Cannabis can cause more severe symptoms in children than in adults, even in a small amount.⁶

A licensed California edible may contain up to 10 mg of THC per serving and up to 100 mg in one package.³ A child who eats a whole package may take in many servings at once. These limits are for licensed products. The CDC warns that the amount of THC in edibles is often unknown, or not what the label says.⁷

Signs to watch for

Signs that a child has had too much cannabis can include:⁶⁷⁸

Being very sleepy, or hard to wake
Dizziness or weakness
Trouble walking or sitting up, or poor coordination
Slurred speech
Anxiety or panic
A slow heart rate or other heart problems
Trouble breathing, or pauses in breathing

Call 911 if your child will not wake up, has trouble breathing, has a seizure, or collapses.¹

If you notice any change in your child after they may have eaten cannabis, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222.

How often this happens in California

In 2024, the California Poison Control System got 749 calls about cannabis and children aged 5 and under. In 2016, it got 148. That is a 406% increase.⁵ Calls about edibles for this age group rose 743% from 2017 to 2024. In 2024, edibles were involved in 57% of calls about children aged 5 and under.⁵

Store cannabis out of reach

Keep products in their original package. In California, packages for edibles must stay child-resistant for the life of the product.³ Child-resistant packaging makes it harder for young children to open a package. It does not make it impossible.
Watch for packages that stop being child-resistant. Packages for products you inhale or put on the skin may be child-resistant only until first opened. Those packages must say “This package is not child-resistant after opening.”³
Lock it up. Keep cannabis locked up, out of reach and out of sight, and away from candy and snacks.⁶
Know the lookalikes. Licensed California packages may not look like products made for children, and edible packages must be opaque, so you cannot see the product inside.³⁴ Even so, some cannabis edibles come in packages made to look like well-known snacks and candy.⁷
Tell the adults around your child. Grandparents, babysitters and guests who use cannabis should store it the same way.⁸

Save the number now

Put Poison Help, 1-800-222-1222, in your phone. It works for any poison, not just cannabis.² For other emergencies, see our emergency help page.