Critics accuse flavored cannabis products of appealing to children

A chorus of experts is increasingly concerned about the proliferation of candy-flavored and non-candy-flavored cannabis products appealing to children in legal cannabis states.

Some of the uproar was spurred when a New York official showed local media a watermelon-flavored edible cannabis product during the state’s first days of adult-use cannabis sales earlier this month.

The Associated Press reports that pressure is mounting to address the way in which cannabis products are said to be targeting children, with several people with expertise in epidemiology and tobacco control research coming forward.

“We should learn from the nicotine space, and I would definitely advocate that similar concerns be addressed to cannabis products in terms of their appeal to adolescents,” said Katherine Keyes, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University.

“Now when you walk through a cannabis dispensary,” she said, “it’s almost absurd how youth-oriented a lot of the packaging and products are.”

The adult cannabis market in New York has just taken off. State adult use law prohibits marketing and advertising designed in a way that appeals to children or other minors.

However, the State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has not yet established defined rules for labeling, packaging and advertising. What could a ban look like? Some concepts would ban images of food, candy, soda, drinks, cookies or cereal on packaging. OCM officials believe these images may appeal to minors.

“Consumers need to be aware – parents need to be aware – if they see product that looks like other products that are commonly marketed to children, it is an illegal market product,” said Lyla Hunt, assistant director of public health and Campaigns at OCM.

But when OCM boss Chris Alexander showed the media a watermelon-flavored edible product at New York’s first licensed adult cannabis store, people’s heads rolled.

Under New York law, a minor caught in possession of cannabis faces a maximum civil penalty of $50. Licensed cannabis dealers caught selling to minors face fines and possible loss of their licenses, but no jail time.

“When you’re talking about strawberry cheesecake, mango, or cookies and cream flavors, it’s very difficult to argue that those are for older adults,” said Dr. Pamela Ling, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco.

“People who consider themselves more cannabis lovers,” she said, “would say that smoking a flavored cannabis product is like putting ketchup on your steak.”

Haven’t we heard that before?

“Wouldn’t someone please think of the children?” said Helen Lovejoy on The Simpsons. Most adults store cannabis products in a place that is out of the reach of children and young people.

Similar bans on flavored tobacco products have been enacted in numerous states in recent years. The same hysteria has found its way into the cannabis industry.

California’s ban on flavored tobacco products went into effect just a few weeks ago. The state’s special ban went further to ban menthol cigarettes.

In Massachusetts, members of the state House of Representatives voted in 2019 to ban the sale of flavored tobacco and e-cigarette products. And that’s not all. The still legal vaping products are subject to a whopping 75% excise tax.

In Oregon, too, Gov. Kate Brown decided in 2019 to ban flavored vape cartridges. But then the Oregon Court of Appeals sided with Dyme Distribution, a cannabis company suing the state over its ban on cannabis vaping products.

Cigarette use has fallen out of favor among teenagers, but use of e-cigarettes and vaporizers has increased. The new focus on regulation falls on cannabis products.