Hospital visits related to cannabis drastically increased after Colorado legalized recreational marijuana, a new study shows.

University of Colorado School of Medicine researchers reviewed health records of 9,973 patients at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital from 2012 to 2016, and found a more than three-fold increase in cannabis-associated emergency department visits, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Annals of Internal Medicine. The state legalized cannabis completely in 2012 and allowed sales in 2014.

Some patients reported eating edibles (about 10.7 percent of cannabis-attributable visits), but a majority of cases were related to inhaled marijuana, according to the study funded by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Symptoms included: Uncontrollable vomiting, acute psychosis, intoxication and heart problems.

An accompanying editorial from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health says this research could have broader public health implications.

There have been concerns about public health since some states began legalizing marijuana. And, some data suggests those concerns might be valid.

Car crashes rose 6 percent from 2012 to 2017 in four states that legalized marijuana during that period – Nevada, Colorado, Washington and Oregon – a greater rate than in four comparable states that didn't, the Highway Loss Data Institute found.

Some doctors have also warned of a link between marijuana and psychosis.

More: Car crashes, psychosis, suicide: Is the drive to legalize marijuana ignoring major risks?

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pot is sending more people to the hospital in Colorado with extreme vomiting, psychosis