In response to Gov. Hickenlooper’s recent visit to speak with California legislators in Sacramento, Calif., in advance of legalization of adult-use cannabis, The Cannabis Business Alliance (CBA)  has released a statement. The advocate for cannabis business owners is calling on states like California and other emerging markets to reach out to those who have been involved in Colorado's cannabis industry for insight on what works best when it comes to regulation and child safety.

“It is great to see legislators from different states coming together to discuss the challenges and benefits of the cannabis industry,” said Mark Malone, Executive Director of the Cannabis Business Alliance. “We encourage newly legalized states to visit Colorado and speak to representatives and those with established cannabis businesses so that they can form better and more efficient rules and regulations around a very successful industry; there is no reason to recreate the wheel,” Malone said. 

Malone continued: “The CBA does take exception to the statement that ‘Colorado saw a rise in child hospitalization because of kids ingesting edible marijuana products in non-child proof containers.’ This is false. The industry did not receive any data that there were any issues with accidental ingestion prior to Colorado changing its edible rules and regulations. It is something the industry requested multiple times but to no avail. Now, the edible market is completely overburdened with the rules and regulations it has to abide to, like marking the actual edible with a ‘THC’ symbol -- a symbol that a child would not understand.”

In October 2016 a new law went into effect requiring all marijuana edible and cannabis infused product manufacturers in Colorado to feature  a “universal stamp” – a diamond enclosing the notations “!THC” or “!THCM” on all products and packaging, in an effort to raise public safety awareness.  With newly enforced stamping and regulation of shapes, the industry can safely claim that between child-resistance, prohibited advertising of cartoon characters, opaque packaging, and warning statements, that Colorado infused products manufacturers are doing more than any other industry to make edibles less appealing to kids while maintaining colors and flavors that do appeal to the adult markets we serve.

“We highly encourage states like California, and other emerging markets to speak directly with people involved in Colorado’s cannabis industry regarding what works for child safety and industry efficiency,” Malone added.