The Journal of the American Medical Association just released a study that lit the media on fire. The main message, marijuana poisoning in young children has risen 150 percent in Colorado since the substance was legalized in 2014.

The common response has been to dismiss the numbers as statistically insignificant and the common comeback, “nobody has ever died from pot.” The problem with this approach, regardless of what’s right and wrong, the media will always have more influence over the public than and company or organization. Secondly, for now other household products might index higher than cannabis with regard to frequency of unintended ingestion, however this is a deceptive statistic. Cannabis usage is in its infancy, as usage increases so will the incidence, and that's why we should act and focus on safe responsible storage education now.

Unintended ingestion, especially of edibles is clearly an issue and poised to become more so as more states decriminalize recreational sales/use. Child resistant exit packaging (the packaging legal cannabis is sealed in at the point of purchase) and warning labels on cannabis products are well intentioned, but let’s be honest: not all kids can read and most retail packaging is easy to defeat.

The focus must affect change at the household level, where the danger for unintended ingestion is highest. This is not about the legality of cannabis, it’s about safe responsible storage of ANYTHING that can potentially cause a liability in your home.

Our mission is to educate parents and caregivers and create awareness for safe responsible storage.

So what can you do to help?

1. Spread the word about safe responsible storage.

2. Store cannabis and all other meds. in a locking container.

3. Get helpful storage tips here.

As a father, I understand how pressing it is for adults to protect children, teens, and even pets from unintended ingestion. In fact I caught my four year old opening a push and twist “child safe” pill container with ease, so I created a unique storage unit to provide a solution.

Wang G, Le Lait M, Deakyne SJ, Bronstein AC, Bajaj L, Roosevelt G. Unintentional Pediatric Exposures to Marijuana in Colorado, 2009-2015. JAMA Pediatr. Published online July 25, 2016. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2016.0971.