Colorado put new laws in place for marijuana edibles. As one of the first states to pass legal cannabis—both medicinal and adult use—many eyes are on Colorado as a model from which to learn. When medical cannabis edibles were developed for patients as an alternative to smoking it, it offered them relief from pain or nausea and still does. In Colorado, the problems with marijuana edibles came about after adult use marijuana edibles became available in January 2014.
Edibles and infused products create charged emotions due to (both real and perceived) issues involving potency, quality control, youth appeal, and youth access. Consuming marijuana edibles are much healthier than smoking marijuana. Marijuana edibles are not a bad thing. Marijuana edibles eaten by the wrong people can be a very bad thing. That’s why marijuana edibles should only be purchased and consumed by adults who know what they are doing.
Cannabis is a psychoactive drug. As the cannabis market grows, lack of responsibility for dosing, packaging and labeling by cannabis business owners only blemish the industry. The new Colorado regulations are focused on packaging, labeling, and potency—total dosages not to exceed 100mg of active THC. For forms of edible marijuana that come in ‘pieces’ such as gummy bears, no one single piece can exceed 10mg THC. This is causing the likes of Colorado-based companies such as Dixie Elixir, to produce individual candies coming in at around 6mg or less. The risk of even one tested THC infused treat exceeding the 10mg limit means destroying the batch and starting from scratch.