Pot-Related Poison Control Calls Rise Nearly 50% in Washington State In 2014

New data released this week by the Washington Poison Control Center shows the number of calls made involving "accidental" poisoning or overdoses by marijuana have nearly doubled, as has the number of children who ate pot edibles by accident.

While the numbers are not staggering,  the Center reports in 2014, 246 emergency calls were made concerning pot.  Those calls involved people who ingested enough marijuana to make them sick, either by smoking, or eating pot edibles. There were 158 such calls in 2013.

Edibles are candy, cookies or yes, brownies, that are infused or laced with marijuana.  Edibles are now legally sold in most pot stores. In addition, the number of children who accidentally ate these edibles went from 24 to 48.  Health and poison control officials are especially troubled by these rising children's numbers. Unlike bigger stronger adults,  children are especially prone to potentially serious health issues if they ingest the amounts of marijuana usually found in these products.

No specific figures were released, but officials said a number of those children required at least temporary or 24-hour hospitalization due to the ingestion.

In Colorado, the other state to legalize pot, the percentages were the same, but their poison control center had far fewer calls, rising from 88 in 2013 to 151 last year.