The state doesn’t track adverse events related to hemp or even cannabis. Instead, it uses two statistical measures that monitor cannabis-related emergency department visits. They aren’t precise or designed for public health surveillance, but they’re the best options available.
The most direct measure is labeled “Cannabis Consumption.” It searches for cannabis-related keywords in hospitals’ chief complaints and triage notes. If someone goes to the hospital with symptoms of psychosis or hyperemesis syndrome tied to a cannabis overdose, that counts.
The second is a broader measure called “Cannabis v2.” It folds in the cases from the narrower category, along with a wider swath of cannabis-related diagnosis codes that might not be directly related to a patient’s hospital visit. For example, if a patient goes to the emergency department after falling and answers yes when the doctor asks if he’s recently consumed cannabis, the case might end up in Cannabis v2, whether or not the cannabis contributed to the fall.
Both measures show that, among residents under 18, cannabis-related emergency visits have skyrocketed since 2017, the year before Congress legalized hemp.
That year, 2.9 of every 100,000 minors had an emergency visit coded as being directly related to cannabis consumption. By 2025, that rate was 31—a 969% increase. The data from the broader category showed a similar, if less dramatic, pattern, with the rate rising from 84.5 in 2017 to 130.3 last year.
Among adults, the rate for the narrower coding rose by an even steeper 1,308%, from 2.3 per 100,000 to 32.4. But it declined by about 28% under the broader category, from 511.2 visits to 370.7 last year.
