Marijuana was legalized for recreational use in New York in 2021. Consequently, marijuana became a widely consumed drug in the state. Marijuana sales in NYC alone are expected to be around 750 million dollars by 2025. Vets in New York City have seen a dramatic increase in marijuana related poisonings in animals. Vet Dr. Amy Attas states that she’d seen as many cases of marijuana poisoning in pets in the three months after the drug’s legalization as she’d seen in her 30 years of work. She directly attributes this rise in cases to the irresponsible citizens who discard marijuana on the sidewalk and areas where dogs go for walks. There has been an 11% increase in pet poisoning due to cannabis consumption occurring between 2021 to 2022, and a 300% increase since 2016. Clearly, this issue is worsening over time. According to the American Kennel Club, marijuana poisoning in dogs can cause severe effects such as mental impairment, vomiting, and even death. I was personally affected by this growing epidemic, as my own dog ate marijuana off the side of the road on one of his walks. I remember coming home late and finding that nobody else was home. I called my mother, and she told me what had happened. She came home to find my dog vomiting and trembling by the door and rushed him to the vet. When we finally saw him, he was extremely lethargic and barely awake. His chest was heavy with fluid the vet pumped into his arteries. We were told that he could’ve died if we hadn’t acted sooner. Even on that day, my dog wasn’t the only one suffering from marijuana poisoning. So many other dogs were in urgent care with the same issue that the vets misnamed our dog in their report several times. In order to prevent hundreds of dogs from being impacted by this crisis in this future, I propose that a fine be put in place to prevent citizens from irresponsibly disposing of marijuana, or at the very least signs should be placed around city blocks to remind citizens to dispose of it correctly.