That’s No Candy! Colorado’s Pot Edibles Face New Rules

Proposed new rules in Colorado would require that marijuana edibles sold in the state be labeled with a red stop sign symbol and the letters THC to indicate marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient.

The THC stop sign would need to be included on each individual edible, not just the outer labels, the Associated Press reported. Liquid marijuana products would be required to be packaged as a single serving, which is defined as 10 milligrams of THC.

The draft rules, which were recently released by a Colorado working group, would also ban marijuana edibles from using the word candy, even if they’re a sweet treat like a sucker, the AP said.

“The public and are children have had no way of differentiating between candy, soda and food that has marijuana and one that doesn’t,” said Diane Carlson, spokesperson for the nonprofit Smart Colorado in an interview with CBS Denver.

At least three deaths in Colorado have been linked to marijuana edibles, which prompted Colorado lawmakers to require new regulations to make pot-infused products more easily distinguishable.

Tom Raynes, executive director of the Colorado District Attorney’s Council, sits on the 20 member pot-edible working group.

“I think it’s just imperative that it be done,” Raynes told the Colorado Springs Gazette. “I find it despicable that anyone not do it.”

Although many manufacturers of marijuana-infused products agree with the intent of the new rules, implementation could be tricky, the Gazette said.

“It might be so excessive that it’s our fear the regulated market is no longer affordable and it pushes people to the black market,” said Julie Dooley, who owns Julie’s Natural Edibles, a manufacturer of marijuana-infused products like gluten-free granola, granola bars and seed mix.

Although the law states that the new edible rules are for recreational marijuana, Barbara Brohl, executive director of Colorado’s Department of Revenue, said she plans to expand the new rules to medicinal marijuana as well. The Gazette said that move is controversial.

That was opposed by several members of the industry, in part because medicinal marijuana users often consume far more than the 10 milligrams of THC. To have each 10-milligram serving marked would make medicinal marijuana too expensive, opponents said.

A public hearing on the proposed rules will happen later this month. Under Colorado’s HB 1366, the new rules must be adopted by January 2016.

What do you think of the proposal requiring each individual pot edible to come affixed with a red THC stop sign? Is it too much regulation or not enough? Share your thoughts below or on our Facebook page.