Colorado Lawmakers: Marijuana Edibles Must Look Different Than Regular Foods Even Without Packaging

(Heather Leah Kennedy)

After taking on the form of brownies, cookies, candy and other normal foods for years, edible marijuana goods must now figure out their own identity in Colorado. A proposed bill to loosen the requirements that say edible pot products must look distinctly different from normal food was rejected by a Colorado panel of lawmakers.

This means that not only do foods and beverages infused with marijuana have to come in packaging that explicitly states what’s going on inside, THC-wise, but the actual products themselves must be clearly different than non-marijuana-filled foods.

The 0-5 vote by the panel in rejecting a bill from Sen. Owen Hill is a big defeat for proponents of edibles in the industry, with Sen. Hill calling it an example of “micromanagement” because it’s not easy to do for all different kinds of foods, reports the Associated Press.

As it stands now, unless lawmakers change their minds and write a new rule, edibles will have to be “shaped, stamped, colored or otherwise marked, when practicable, with a standard symbol indicating that it contains marijuana and is not for consumption by children.”

Those behind the bill to loosen that restriction are unsure of how this can be carried off — after all, you can shape a pot cookie like a marijuana leaf, sure, but what about tomato sauce, for example?

“How we distinguish liquids versus granolas versus candies versus cookies versus brownies?” asked Sen. Hill.

Critics of the bill included parents, health advocates and even teenagers who told lawmakers about classmates passing around pot candies with parents none the wiser.

It would also serve medical professionals in helping them find out what’s wrong with a person in the emergency room, to help identify what they ate if it’s suspected they accidentally ingested pot.

“The ability to rapidly identify a suspected agent … with or without the packaging, we believe is critical,” said a doctor representing Children’s Hospital Colorado.

But those in favor of loosening the rules say the packaging can be changed to create a clear difference, and that that should be enough.

“As an industry, there’s no real way to clearly mark every item that’s out there,” said the president of Incredibles, a company that makes marijuana-infused candies. “That is impracticable.”

Lawmakers: Edible pot must look different than regular food [Associated Press]