Colorado is taking action against edible marijuana products that are appealing to kids. There has been a ban on marijuana-infused gummy bears and other marijuana products that are shaped like fruit, people, and animals. The change is taking place to decrease the chances of young children mistaking them for a favorite snack. The action is motivated by the same concerns of having children consume marijuana products because of the way they look, consuming them and getting sick, or adults accidentally overdoing when they consume edible cannabis products.
Colorado has made cutting the number of accidental ingestion reports a priority as part of an ongoing effort to avoid a federal crackdown on its marijuana experiment. In an August letter responding to the Attorney General, Colorado’s governor highlighted the state’s stricter packaging and labeling requirements as a key part of its efforts to minimize retail pot’s appeal to kids. Colorado lawmakers approved the ban on some edible shapes in 2016. Mike Hartman, director of Colorado’s Department of Revenue, explained that one hearing on the packaging issue, lawmakers were shown packages of gummy candies that contained pot and regular gummy bears and they could not tell the difference,
Hartman stated, “[t]hat really highlighted that we need to take some action here and make sure these products are not to be mistaken.”
Frank T. Luciano has almost 40 years of experience in defending drug and DWI/DUI cases in Hackensack and elsewhere. He is also a lifetime member of the legal committee of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.