“Everyone loves cookies,” reads the ad on the side of an AAATA bus stuck in Washtenaw Ave. traffic. One side has an adorable kid about to chomp down on a gigantic chocolate chip cookie. The other side has a cute dog licking his chops while staring at a stack of cookies–and a huge marijuana bud. “Lock it up,” warn both signs. “Use medical marijuana safely.”
It’s a public service announcement from the Washtenaw County Health Department about marijuana edibles. “Kids and animals don’t really care what it is,” says health promotion coordinator Amanda Ng. “If it looks good, they might eat it.”
A child who eats a pot-packed cookie can suffer “nausea, anxiety, lethargy, dizziness, paranoia,” says Ng. Animals can become lethargic, “wobbly or staggering, sometimes vomiting, tremors.”
With funding from the state’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency, the department has also posted billboards warning against using cannabis while driving. “This funding is specifically for medical marijuana education,” explains Ng, “and is based on the licenses that are in Washtenaw County.” In other words, more pot shops mean more pot PSAs.
