As California Considers Marijuana Legalization, Concerns Linger Over Labeling Edible Products

Californians may soon vote to legalize recreational marijuana, which means edible products containing the drug will be more widely available and could accidentally fall into the wrong hands.

Proposition 64 establishes warning labeling and packaging requirements for edible products containing marijuana. But public health advocates say the goodies, when taken out of their packaging, look just like regular candy and baked goods and could still easily be consumed by mistake or in excessive amounts.

"Edibles are a huge problem," said Stanton Glantz, a professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco and director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. "They should not be made to look like candy. "

In August, unmarked gummy candy containing marijuana sickened 19 people, who ate it unknowingly when it was served at a Quinceañera party in San Francisco. They were all taken to area hospitals and later released after experiencing symptoms including rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, dilated pupils, dizziness, light-headedness, nausea, lethargy and confusion, according to San Francisco Department of Public Health officials.

Thirteen of the those people were children ranging in age from 6 to 18, the health department said.

A 2016 study tracing admissions at Children's Hospital Colorado found that more kids were treated for accidental pot ingestion after legalization, increasing from 1.2 children per 100,000 population two years prior to legalization to 2.3 per 100,000 population two years after legalization, the Associated Press reports.

Colorado's new 'universal symbol' labeling requirements

In Colorado, where marijuana is already legal, officials have just beefed up their warnings on edible marijuana products. Starting Saturday, edible marijuana products in Colorado must feature a diamond-shaped stamp with the letters THC on the packaging and even on the edible items themselves. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

That way, the new "universal symbol" for food products containing marijuana will be seen on the products even after they are removed from packaging, the AP reports.

"It's better than nothing," said Glantz, of San Francisco.

He said a symbol right on the edible product itself may help some adults who read and understand what THC means to avoid accidentally consuming the product. But he said he doesn't think it will do much to prevent small children from accidentally eating the products.

Colorado also has new packaging rules for edible marijuana products that are not possible to stamp. For example, marijuana containing sodas must come in small single-serve bottles, AP reports.

Marijuana legalization advocates say legalizing and regulating edible products will make them safer than when they were sold in the underground market.

“The imposition of sensible regulations on the cannabis industry, coupled with better public safety information and greater consumer responsibility and accountability, are the best strategies to address cannabis-specific health concerns due to the inadvertent ingestion or over-ingestion of edible products,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, a marijuana legalization advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.

For those using marijuana for medical purposes, edible products can also be problematic.

"I think edible marijuana is one of the least desirable ways to use the product," said Dr. Laurie Vollen, a medical marijuana specialist at Naturally Healing MD in Albany, CA. "It is much more difficult to titrate, the THC is metabolized into a more sedating, longer acting and more psychoactive metabolite than regular THC, and it is where people get into trouble."

For patients who prefer an edible form of marijuana, she recommends tinctures or pills.

"I hope California figures out how to prevent … mishaps," she said.  "As a physician, I don't recommend any kind of candy, cookie, or sweet with cannabis. Sweets are not healthy to begin with."