South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Flavored cannabis under fire
Concerns cropping up over packaging, marketing that critics say could entice kids
NEW YORK — When New York’s first licensed recreational marijuana outlet opened in December, the chief of the state’s Office of Cannabis Management, Chris Alexander, proudly hoisted a tin of watermelon-flavored gummies above the crowd.
Outside the Manhattan shop, he also displayed a jar containing dried flowers of a cannabis strain called Banana Runtz, which some aficionados say has overtones of “fresh, fruity banana and sour candy.”
Inside the store run by the nonprofit Housing Works, shelves brimmed with vape cartridges suggesting flavors of pineapple, grapefruit and “cereal milk,” written in rainbow bubble letter print.
For decades, health advocates have chided the tobacco industry for marketing harmful nicotine products to children, resulting in more cities and states, like New York, outlawing flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.
Now, as cannabis shops proliferate across the country, the same concerns are growing over the packaging and marketing of flavored cannabis that critics say could entice children.
“We should learn from the nicotine space, and I certainly would advocate that we should place similar concern on cannabis products in terms of their appealability to youth,” said Katherine Keyes, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University who has written extensively about the rise in marijuana use among young people.
New York, which legalized recreational marijuana in March 2021, forbids marketing and advertising that “is designed in any way to appeal to children or other minors.” But New York’s state Office of Cannabis Management has yet to officially adopt rules on labeling, packaging and advertising that could ban cartoons and neon colors, as well as prohibit depictions of food, candy, soda, drinks, cookies or cereal on packaging.
“Consumers need to be aware — parents need to be aware — if they see products that look like other products that are commonly marketed to kids, that’s an illicit market product,” said Lyla Hunt, OCM’s deputy director of public health and campaigns.
Hunt recently saw a cannabis product calling itself “Stony Patch Kids” that she said looked like the popular candy Sour Patch Kids.
Similar products are being sold by the dozens of illegal pot dispensaries that operate out in the open and that officials worry are selling unsafe products. Once packaging and marketing standards are established, the illicit marketplace will likely not comply, experts say.
Under state law, a minor in possession of marijuana would face a civil penalty of not more than $50. Licensed cannabis retailers who sell to minors face fines and the loss of their licenses, but no jail time.
California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island have bans on most flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and vapes. An increasing number of cities, including New York City, have similar bans.
Those rules need to be broadened to include marijuana, said Linda Richter with the Partnership to End Addiction.
“There is more scrutiny on the tobacco industry, and very, very little in terms of rules, regulations, scrutiny, limitations, when it comes to the cannabis industry,” she said.