Cannabis, home and children: storing it safely

At home, cannabis, plants and seeds must be protected from access by children and young people.
Edibles are particularly dangerous for small children: serious poisoning with unconsciousness and breathing problems is possible.
In an emergency: NRW poison control centre 0228 19240, and call 112 straight away if there are breathing problems or unconsciousness.

What the law requires

At your place of residence, cannabis and propagation material must be protected from access by others with suitable measures and precautions, especially from children and young people (§ 10 KCanG). Anyone who fails to do so commits an administrative offence that can be fined up to 30,000 euros (§ 36 KCanG). Using cannabis in the immediate presence of people under 18 is also prohibited (§ 5 para. 1 KCanG).

How to store it safely

The BIÖG information sheet you receive when collecting your cannabis says it clearly: always keep cannabis, hashish and above all edibles out of the reach of children and young people, including plants and seeds. Children in particular face an acute risk of poisoning if they eat any. A case from Freiburg shows how dangerous mix-ups are: a ten-year-old ate THC sweets belonging to his brother, thinking they were ordinary sweets, and ended up in hospital.

That is why we recommend:

lock it away, for example in a box with a lock or a lockable cupboard
do not keep it in tins or bags that look like sweets, and not among food
clear away leftovers, butts and ash immediately
place plants where children cannot reach them

If a child has eaten something

Poisoning usually shows as vomiting, a racing heart, anxiety, restlessness or confusion. In small children who have swallowed edibles or concentrated products such as resin or oil, severe cases with unconsciousness and breathing problems are possible. Even a small amount of THC can cause clear symptoms in children under six.

What you can do:

Stay calm and calm the child.
Call the NRW poison control centre: Informationszentrale gegen Vergiftungen Bonn, 0228 19240, around the clock.
If the child is unconscious, has seizures or breathing problems, call 112 straight away.
Do not make the child vomit and do not give milk.
Take the packaging and any leftovers with you so the doctors know what it was.

More on first aid is in the module When it gets too much.

Smoke at home

Smoking cannabis irritates the airways and can damage the lungs in the long term. The BIÖG advises that children and toddlers should never be exposed to smoke, neither from cannabis nor from tobacco. The Federal Non-Smokers Protection Act therefore applies to cannabis too. A study in California looked at 275 households in which adults smoke: THC or its breakdown products could be detected in the urine of 27.3 % of the children, and of 69 % in households where cannabis was used. What health effects this has is not yet clear. The recommendation is clear all the same: if children live in the household, nobody smokes indoors.

Setting an example

Young people learn from role models and notice how adults deal with alcohol, tobacco or cannabis. The BIÖG advises parents to question their own use before a conversation and not to play it down. You do not have to tell everything, but what you do tell should be true. How to start a conversation is explained in the module Raising a concern, and why age matters in the module Why age matters.

Checklist to print out

Download the checklist as a PDF (to print out or tick off on screen)

Flowers, hashish, edibles, seeds and plants are out of reach and locked away.
Nothing is stored in sweet tins or among food.
Leftovers, butts and ash have been cleared away.
No use when children or young people are present.
Nobody smokes indoors.
The number of the NRW poison control centre, 0228 19240, is posted where everyone can see it and saved in your phone.
Whoever looks after the children knows the number.
If someone is unconscious, has seizures or breathing problems: call 112 straight away.

Home and children

What the law requires

How to store it safely

If a child has eaten something

Smoke at home

Setting an example

Checklist to print out

Sources

Module of 9

Read on

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