Colorado Opposes Cannabis Foods Being Called “Candy”

Last year Colorado became the first US state to legalise cannabis for recreational purposes, soon followed by Washington, Oregon and Alaska. The regulation has been a resounding success: in the first 12 months the state managed to rake in 44 million euros in tax revenue.

Authorities, however, do not want the packaging of cannabis-containing foods to feature the word “candy.” In fact, lawmakers have proposed a regulation governing the presentation of these products which would call for a red stop sign symbol including the letters “THC” in order to alert consumers to the presence of cannabis's psychoactive ingredient in these products.

Although the members of Smart Colorado, a parents association, are happy with the current proposal (in fact, they complained because a previous one called only for a marijuana leaf on the products), the Colorado Cannabis Chamber of Commerce has declared its opposition to these possible measures.

According to the organisation the rules proposed are too strict. “Every recreational edible is already sealed in a child-proof container, features a warning label, and provides specific information on doses,” explained Tyler Henson, the president of the Colorado Cannabis Chamber of Commerce a few months ago.

A stop sign symbol, however, sends the message that THC is bad. It says: “stay away,” according to Julie Berliner, the CEO of Sweet Grass Kitchen, a manufacturer of marijuana cookies. Thus, for the time being Colorado legislators' proposals do not satisfy all the state's cannabis sector businesspeople.