Rhode Island regulators are considering changes to cannabis packaging in the state, including allowing color, the Rhode Island Current reports. Under current rules, cannabis packaging must include only neutral colors in an effort to prevent packaging from being attractive to children.
The Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) is also considering placing the name of the laboratory that rested the cannabis on the package, the use of QR codes on labels, and listing the cannabinoids that make up the products instead of only THC potency.
Allowing colors was recommended by the Cannabis Advisory Board in July, which the panel said would provide “for more branding freedom for licensees.” In an interview with the Current, advisory board member Stuart Procter, co-founder and lab director for cannabis testing facility PureVita Labs, said giving companies the ability to brand products “gives them the ability to differentiate themselves in the market.”
The proposed change to add cannabinoid content to the packaging would help customers better understand the product profile and would also help businesses understand what profiles are popular among customers. Proctor said that, under the current rules, retailers price and sell products based on THC potency and may stop selling more diver products because they are low in THC.
“It’s almost like a self-fulfilling, destroying prophecy,” he told the Current. “As that number pushes up and more and more products can’t reach the benchmark, the quality products meant for human consumption are falling away.”
The CCC expects to announce its decision within the next two months.
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