Vermont Cannabis Regulators Reject Health Warnings on Labels

The Vermont Cannabis Control Board (CCB) has decided against recommending specific warning labels on the health effects of cannabis products, VT Digger reports. The decision comes after the Vermont Medical Society had urged the inclusion of warnings on cannabis products that will be sold in the state, including notices about psychosis, impaired driving, addiction, suicide, uncontrollable vomiting, and harm to fetuses or nursing babies.

The product label warnings recommended by the CCB read: “CONTAINS THC”, “NOT SAFE FOR KIDS” and “KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN.”

James Pepper, the board chair, said the subcommittee that worked on the recommendation didn’t want to overload the labels and that a safety flyer would be handed out with cannabis purchases that would address the perceived ill health effects of cannabis. Vermont’s legalization law also includes up to $10 million per year for cannabis education and prevention efforts, Pepper told VT Digger.

The Medical Society had also urged THC caps of 15% on adult-use cannabis products sold in the state, which Pepper said runs counter to the purpose of the legalization law, which is to replace unregulated sales.

“In order to do that, we have to provide the products that the illegal market is supplying. To think that people that are growing for the illicit market are trying to cap their THC at 15% … it’s just not a product that’s prevalent on the illicit market and therefore I think it’s important for the board to recognize that.” — Pepper to VT Digger

The legislature has already capped THC limits at 30%, the report says, and Pepper noted that “there is kind of a natural cap” of about 30% THC for cannabis.

The label rules are not yet finalized, requiring review by the Interagency Committee on Administrative Rules and a public comment period before moving to the legislature which will rule on whether the rules are in line with the intent of the law.