And Just Like That, Charlotte's Brownie Munching Leads to a Revelation

Kristin Davis enjoys a brownie in "And Just Like That"

The sequel to Sex in the City, "And Just Like That" continues on Max, with a Valentine's Day–themed Season 2, Episode 7 that reunites Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) with her ex Adain, and has goodie two-shoes Charlotte (Kristin Davis) inadvertently eating a pot brownie that her daughter's friend has baked. 

Unaware that she's ingested cannabis, Charlotte ends up in the hospital emergency room after feeling strange and reporting symptoms like, "I can feel the blood in my mouth." An unconcerned ER physician assures her she's not having a stroke and instead reports, "You do have a pretty significant amount of THC in your bloodstream," adding that's he's seeing the situation a lot because, "People in your age group haven't quite learned how to navigate the power of a gummy." He tells her she can go home and sleep it off. 

It's true: A recent UC San Diego study of California hospital data found a 1,804% increase in cannabis-related emergency room visits among people older than 65 from 2005 to 2019. “I see patients later, and they said: ‘I used a gummy, and nothing happened.’ And they don’t know much about the doses,” study author Benjamin Han said. “So then they say: ‘I took a lot more and then, two hours later, my heart is racing — I’m so anxious I don’t know what’s going on!’ And they end up in the emergency department.” Edibles remain the main cause of cannabis overdoses for all age groups. 

In Charlotte's case, she benefits from the experience, telling her husband that she had a revelation during her ambulance ride that she needed to take a job she'd been offered at an art gallery, instead of trying to live her dreams through their daughters. "I've got to get back to me," she says. "And it's not just the pot talking." 

Meg Ryan finds her bliss in "The Women" (2008)

A good dose of cannabis can do that for you (although it's better if you know that you're taking it). It reminded me of Meg Ryan's character in The Women (2008) after she tokes with Bette Midler, realizes she's been "trying to be everything to everyone," and gets back to her own bliss: fashion design. (You have to go to the DVD's outtakes however to hear Ryan saying, "I'm really stoned.")

"Sex in the City" was criticized for glorifying alcohol, which it did in almost every episode. But occasionally Carrie and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) would smoke pot, as in "The Post-It Note Always Sticks Twice" (Season 6, Episode 7), wherein Carrie is nearly arrested for smoking on the street. In "And Just Like That," Miranda (former pro-pot NY Gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon) and her new nonbinary lover Che (Sara Ramirez) smoke together, even though they first meet when Miranda yells at her for sharing a pipe with her son. 

Meanwhile, today at the closing event of the California State Fair cannabis exhibit, cannabis culinary magazine The Clever Root's Rachel Burkons will be in conversation with Diana Eberlein of SoRSE on a panel titled, "All About Cannabis Beverages." SoRSE's emulsion technology is used for the Gwyneth Paltrow-backed cannabis beverage brand CANN, which reportedly is "dominating California." Also on today's program is a Cannacocktail Mixology Demo with Manndie Tingler of CannaGram, plus a panel titled, "Wine & Weed: Why They're More Similar Than You Think and How to Enjoy Them" with Joyce Cenali of Sonoma Hills Farm. Although again this year, all that can be sampled at the Fair are nonpsychoactive CBD slushies (plus beer and wine), Fair Ambassador Dr. Amanda Reiman has just appeared on The Dime podcast for a segment titled, Switching Spirits for Strains: Cannabis as a Substitute for Alcohol.  

Davis with Sorkin in 2012

Davis, 56, has said she's been a recovering alcoholic for over 30 years. She now lives in Los Angeles, which kinda makes you wonder if she's "California Sober," as they say. She's dated Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, who both smoked pot with Meryl Streep in It's Complicated (2008), and Aaron Sorkin, who was arrested at the Burbank Airport in April 2001 when authorities found hallucinogenic mushrooms and small amounts of rock cocaine and marijuana in his luggage.

Davis has adopted two children, and has been a Global Ambassador for Oxfam since 2004. In support of their work, she has traveled to various places including Haiti, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania where she met with women farmers about food scarcity. In 2011 she gave a tearful interview with BBC News describing the situation of women at a Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. She co-produced the 2015 documentary Gardeners of Eden about the illegal ivory trade and its effect on elephants. Sounds like she's been living the kind of life Charlotte may now get to live.