"Many marijuana-infused products on the medical marijuana market today are appealing to children. Products such as lollipops, gummy bears, and cotton candy are very appealing to children too young to read a label."
To gain approval from the board, marijuana processors must submit a picture of the product, its label, and packaging to them. The board will not approve products that appeal to children.
Marijuana-infused products that look like foods and beverages that children commonly eat and drink have been a concern for Prevention WINS members even prior to the I-502 vote. Concerns were expressed to the Liquor Control Board during their rule-making process and as they developed recommendations for reconciling the recreational and medical marijuana systems. During rule-making, Prevention WINS included the following in our letter to the board:
Recently, a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association – Pediatrics discussed the increase in unintentional ingestion of marijuana among children in Colorado.
As the Board knows from experience,
many flavored malt beverages are fruit flavored and particularly attractive to
minors. In one survey about underage drinking, when asked what one type of
alcohol drink they would most prefer, 30% of teens said “alcopops” (the term
used to describe these flavored alcoholic beverages – a combination of
“alcohol” and “pop”).
In
the past, the Board has banned the sale of certain alcohol products because of
the high likelihood that the products are attractive to minors. A similar ban
should be placed on marijuana-infused products that are attractive to minors
and resemble products primarily consumed by children. Examples of such
products, many of which currently may be sold in medical marijuana access
points, include but are not limited to:
- Snow-cones,
- Hard candy, lollipops, and cookies shaped like animals, people, cartoon and other characters, Christmas trees, snowmen, stars, etc.,
- Soda-pop,
- Juice,
- Candy bars,
- Pop-Tarts,
- “Gummy” candies shaped like worms, bears, etc.
Some flavored tobacco and alcohol
products are also banned because of their potential to attract young people.
The Board should ban marijuana products containing flavorings such as fruit,
candy, and vanilla.
The emergency rules also include guidelines regarding serving sizes. The new rules read:
"Marijuana-infused products in solid form that contain more than one serving must be scored to indicate individual serving sizes, and labeled so that the serving size is prominently displayed on the packaging."
"Marijuana-infused products must be homogenized to ensure uniform disbursement of cannabinoids throughout the product."
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