California bill seeks to prevent cannabis product packaging from appealing to children

by: Jacque Porter

Posted: May 17, 2023 / 04:23 PM PDT

Updated: May 17, 2023 / 04:23 PM PDT

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(KTXL) — A bill introduced into the California State Assembly aims to prevent cannabis product packaging from appealing to children.

Assembly Bill 1207’s author, Assembly Member Jacqui Irwin, said some product packaging is leading to children being accidentally exposed to cannabis.

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“Since the passage of Proposition 64, pediatric exposures to cannabis have increased exponentially,” Irwin wrote in an official explanation of the bill. “These exposures are heavily influenced by the use of features on cannabis product packaging that are explicitly attractive to children.”

“Children who unintentionally consume cannabis consistently require poison control treatment, and in many cases, they can also expose their fellow elementary and middle school peers to cannabis,” Irwin’s explanation continued

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Currently, California law concerning cannabis packaging only says that “packages and labels shall not be made to be attractive to children” without further explaining what that means.

AB 1207 would more specifically define “attractive to children” to include: -the use of images of cartoons, toys, robots, fictional animals, real or fictional humans -“any likeness to images, characters, or phrases that are popularly used to advertise to children”

-the use of brand names or imitations of brand packaging of “cereals, sweets, chips, or other food products typically marketed to children”

-the word “candy” or any variant such as “kandy” or “kandee”

The bill would also specifically prohibit marijuana products intended for smoking from containing “any artificial, synthetic, or natural flavoring… other than the natural flavor or aroma of cannabis.”

The bill passed was approved by the Assembly’s Business and Professions Committee and it is currently being considered by the Appropriations Committee before going before the full chamber for a vote.