(COLDWATER) - The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency is kicking off their 2024 Lock It Up campaign.

This year’s campaign includes transit bus advertising in Branch and St. Joseph County, a re-designed web page, educational videos on the agency’s YouTube channel for parents and young adults, a short quiz linked to each video, and a safe storage locking bag available to community members at no charge.

The Lock It Up campaign has partnered with local community agencies to distribute the safe storage locking bag to all three counties. Residents can request a safe storage locking bag by visiting any Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency office, or the following agencies, while supplies last. One of the locations is the Michigan Department of Human Services Offices in all three counties.

In St. Joseph County: Pivotal at all of their locations and the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office.

In Branch County: Pines Behavioral Health; Branch ISD office on Lincoln Street; Tree House Provisioning Center and Tree House Provisioning Center MMMP Clinic – Coldwater; and Green Tree Relief – Coldwater.

In Hillsdale County: Lifeways: the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office; Green Tree Relief – Reading; and The Nest Provisioning Center – Camden.

Rebecca Burns, Health Officer with the CHA says they are pleased to have again received grant funding from the Marijuana Operation and Oversight Grant to support the Lock It Up campaign. She says marijuana and products with THC are widely available in the jurisdiction. Burns says the important message the CHA wants to share is to safely store your medications and marijuana products away from pets and children. She says edibles can be attractive to children, and they have no fear since they look like their fruit snack or other gummy.

The Michigan Poison Control Center at Wayne State University has released the following facts: Children have experienced more severe symptoms of marijuana poisoning including; low heart rate and blood pressure, tremors, hallucinations, and coma. Children can remain symptomatic for 2 to 55 hours after ingestion of marijuana edibles. Marijuana use disorder occurs most often in persons who begin using in their teens.

If you or someone you know would be interested in getting a safe storage device from the Branch Hillsdale St. Joseph Community Health Agency go online. LINKA. There you can find the complete list of locations and addresses.