What makes marijuana edibles attractive to children? Here's what a report says

Refrigerator case marijuana

Ohio regulators will decide in the coming months what forms of medical marijuana can be sold and used under the new state law.

(Sabrina Eaton, cleveland.com)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Marijuana-infused food is allowed to be sold under Ohio's new medical marijuana law, as long as it's not "attractive to children."

What does that mean?

State regulators will decide in the coming months, and a new report out of Washington state offers some suggestions.

Red or yellow color, sweet candy flavors and scents and familiar shapes such as gummy bears make food more likely to be eaten by young children, says the report from the University of Washington law school's Cannabis and Law Policy Project.

The state pharmacy board has until September 2017 to write rules and regulations for retail dispensaries, including what methods and forms of medical marijuana can be sold and used. The law allows edible marijuana products but prohibits smoking and any form attractive to children.

What's the problem?

Gummy candy, cookies and other so-called "edibles" have been problematic in Colorado, Washington and other states because children have wanted to eat them, thinking they were simple sweets.

Washington state legalized recreational marijuana in 2012 and later banned stores from selling marijuana-infused gummy bears, lollipops and cotton candy as well as products that require cooking or baking. State regulators asked the University of Washington law school to find out what makes a food appealing to children.

What makes a food attractive to children?

There's no one answer. Color, shape, odor and taste all factored into a child's decision to eat something, but no single factor emerged as the most important, according to existing food research studied by the law school. Cannabis and Law Policy Project Executive Director Sam Mendez said the findings are applicable to marijuana-infused edibles.

"There is scant research of testing children with cannabis-infused edibles, and for good ethical reasons," Mendez said in a news release.

The report also looked at packaging and marketing and its attractiveness to children. Unsurprisingly, kids gravitate toward cartoon characters and packaging that resembles popular food brands.

What did the study show?

They found children generally prefer

  • Foods that are red, orange, yellow or green.
  • Foods in novel shapes such as animals
  • Foods that smell sweet, fruity or candy-like

Taste is a more likely deterrent than odor, the report found, with infants initially preferring sweet flavors and then salty flavors after four months.

Mendez said no one factor was clearly indicative of a danger to children.

"So if you have a food that's shaped as a bear, that doesn't automatically make it attractive to kids, especially if it smells or tastes bad," Mendez said. "It's more of a multifactor test, and you need to factor in all of these things that can help give you an idea about whether a food could be more attractive to children."

Mobile readers, click here to read the report.

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