Blowing Smoke: Chicago Man Tried for Getting His Chameleon High

Half a million people watched the aptly named Bruce Blunt blow marijuana smoke into his pet chameleon, Binna, on a Facebook video recorded earlier this year. But when People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals watched, their outrage led to a police complaint and a criminal charge for the 40-year-old Chicago man.

At trial Wednesday for misdemeanor animal cruelty, Blunt explained how the marijuana smoke seemed to calm his reptile friend.

Judge Robert Kuzas watched the video and decided to acquit Blunt, saying the act was “really, really uncalled for and immature” but not criminal and noting the chameleon didn’t seem to change after ingesting the druggy smoke.

Veterinarians and other experts say marijuana poisoning, while rarely fatal, can adversely affect pets.

“Forcing any animal to breathe in smoke without their consent or understanding — especially of a mind-altering or psychoactive nature — it’s cruelty, and obviously local officials agreed with us,” PETA’s cruelty casework director Stephanie Bell told the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday.

“I blew a little smoke on her and it didn’t harm her,” Blunt told a reporter outside the Cook County courthouse where he was acquitted.

Since his arrest, Binna the chameleon has been in the custody of Chicago’s Animal Care and Control Center.

Blunt wants Binna back.