Responding to growing consumer concerns about the appeal of edible cannabis products for children, the Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency issued a detailed bulletin Monday with specific illustrated examples of problematic and “acceptable” packaging. The MRA will offer education to licensees immediately, and starting February 2, 2022, MRA inspectors, “will conduct investigations when necessary for marijuana-infused edible products or packaging not in compliance with the rules.”
“We want parents in Michigan to know that we are doing everything in our power to prevent children from unknowingly consuming marijuana products,” said MRA Executive Director Andrew Brisbo in a press release.
[Read the MRA guidance document on edibles packaging]
The MRA guidance does not include any new rules, but includes a level of clarification previously unavailable. The image examples repeatedly show removal of all illustrations of animals, fruits, and food of any kind, including symbolically representative images.
According to MRA rules, “Edible marijuana product packages shall not be in a shape or labeled in a manner that would appeal to minors aged 17 years or younger. Edible marijuana products shall not be associated with, or have, cartoons, caricatures, toys, designs, shapes, labels, or packaging that would appeal to minors.”
This week MRA also posted an advisory reminding cultivators and dispensaries of the legal process for selling immature plants, meaning those under 8-inches tall or wide. Under the law, Michigan cultivators may sell immature plants to other cultivators and retail sales locations. In turn, medical and adult-use dispensaries may sell immature plants to consumers.
[Read the MRA guidance document on immature plant sales]
MRA issued the guidance now, as a result of recommendations from an industry workgroup they conducted, said an agency spokesperson.
Michigan is one of only a few legal cannabis states that allows plant sales to consumers.
