Colorado Cannabis Coalition To Promote Responsible Edibles Consumption

[The General]

Council on Responsible Cannabis Regulation, a Denver-based organization launched last month, will announce Wednesday a new campaign with a message about appropriate consumption of edible marijuana products for first-timers. The council will officially launch the campaign, called "First Time 5," at medical marijuana center and retail store Sweet Leaf, located at 2215 E. Mississippi Ave. in Denver. The campaign includes posters that will be available for free to all marijuana retail stores, which direct people to a website that encourages novice consumers of marijuana edibles to limit their intake to five milligrams of THC the first time they try a product.

"We wanted to get the message across in a very direct way," said Steve Fox, executive director of the council. "The amount is very low so that people will understand to start slow." Currently, "one serving" on many pot edibles is 10 milligrams of THC, Fox said. The logo promoting just five milligrams for a first-time user will also be available for edibles producers to put on their packaging on a voluntary basis, Fox said.

Matthew Aiken, co-owner of Sweet Leaf, and Tripp Keber, managing director of Dixie Elixirs and Edibles, will be present at the campaign's launch to speak to the industry's responsibility to properly educate and instruct users. The council will also be requesting that Gov. John Hickenlooper's administration use a "significant portion" of a $5.8 million public education budget allocation to conduct the kind of consumer education used in the First Time 5 campaign.

Fox declined to name a specific amount the group will recommend. The state legislature in April approved a spending plan for the revenues coming to Colorado as a result of pot-related taxes and fees, including a budget for educating the public. So far, Fox said, most of the education has centered around explaining the effects of marijuana use, rather than helping consumers understand how to use the products safely.

While the first six months of legal pot in Colorado have not resulted in any major spikes in crime or other negative impacts feared by some opponents, there have been several stories about people accidentally ingesting too much THC via pot brownies or other foods. For this reason, Fox said, the Council for Responsible Cannabis Regulation decided to make edibles consumption its first mission. The council's overarching mission is to help Colorado become and remain a model for responsible regulation of pot and to help other states regulate marijuana in a similar fashion, Fox said.

News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Bizjournals.com
Author: Molly Armbrister
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Colorado cannabis coalition to promote responsible edibles consumption - Denver Business Journal

 

[painkills2]

Asking first timers to only initially consume a 5 mg dose is kind of like asking a first-time beer drinker to only drink a small portion of a can of beer... It's smart, but I'm not sure it's feasible. Especially if consumers figure out, which I think they already have, that a 5 mg dose is not strong enough to give many people the benefit of an effect. In fact, it could back fire, if a large portion of first-time consumers try this dosage amount, do not obtain an effect, and just keep eating.