Colorado’s new edibles rules, requiring products to be stamped with a diamond and the letters “THC” takes effect on Saturday, the Associated Press reports. The “universal symbol” is designed to give edibles a distinct look even after removed from its packaging.
“We want to ensure that people genuinely know the difference between a Duncan Hines brownie and a marijuana brownie, just by looking at it,” state Rep. Jonathan Singer, the sponsor of the law, said in the report.
The law also changes how products that would be impossible to stamp — such as infused sodas and dissolvable powder — are packaged. Sodas, for example, are required to be sold in single-serve bottles. All of the edibles’ packaging will also contain the universal symbol and the phrase, “Keep out of reach of children,” on top of the childproof zippers and lids already required by the state.
Beginning next year, edibles in kid-friendly shapes — such as fruits, animals, and humans — will be barred from being sold in dispensaries.
“It’s really a step in enhancing public safety and making sure that marijuana is out of the hands of children,” Ron Kammerzell, senior director of enforcement for the Marijuana Enforcement Division said.
According to a 2016 report studying admissions at Children’s Hospital Colorado, more children were treated for accidental cannabis ingestion following the legalization of recreational cannabis in the state — up from 1.2 per 100,000 population the two years before legalization to 2.3 per 100,000 population two years following legalization. From 2009 to 2015, 81 children were treated for ingesting cannabis accidentally; however “poor child supervision or product storage” was responsible in about a third of those cases.
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