Health officials in Colorado are reportedly set to recommend new rules requiring “premarket approval” of any food or drink containing marijuana before those products hit the state’s legal cannabis market.
Colorado’s Health Department has expressed concern that children could be too drawn to some marijuana edibles, including candy, baked goods and soft drinks, and that both young people and adults are at risk of consuming the products by accident. The department plans to propose the new rules at a final meeting on edible marijuana regulations to be held on Monday, according to a recommendation obtained by the Associated Press.
Last month, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment recommended that the state ban sales of most weed edibles outright in a move that would have limited sales to tinctures and lozenges infused with marijuana. The department has since walked back from that statement, but officials still see a need for tighter restrictions where edible marijuana product sales are concerned.
State health officials are meeting on Monday with cannabis industry representatives, law enforcement members and parent groups in an effort to reach an agreement on recommendations for Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division.
Already this year, state officials drafted new rules requiring labels that make it easier for consumers to tell how much THC — the psychoactive chemical in marijuana — is contained in each food or drink product in an attempt to curb overconsumption.