By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent
In recent weeks, a panel of Missouri legislators spent several hours debating if aliens and robots on marijuana product labels should be banned.
The state has already banned the use of humans, animals, and fruit. This is an effort to keep the products away from children. Would robots be included in that ban?
“A robot, in my opinion, does not fit within the definition or shape of a person,” said Nick Schroer (a St. Charles Republican) during a meeting of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules of the legislative branch. “Any alien I’ve ever seen does not look like a person.”
Amy Moore, Director of the Division of Cannabis Regulation, countered by saying that some robots or aliens look human and others don’t. She said it was up to the cannabis regulators to make that call.
The robot debate is a part of a power struggle between the divisions and the committees over a single line in the constitution amendment that legalized marijuana for recreational use last year. The amendment states that packaging and labels for marijuana-related products “shall not make them attractive to children… to protect public health.”
According to new rules, which went into effect July 30, Missouri is among the few states that requires plain packaging for adult-use cannabis. Businesses have until the end of May to comply with these rules. The packaging must be one color, and it can include up to two symbols or logos that are different colors.
In May, the committee and marijuana industry leaders expressed their opposition to these regulations. At a hearing on Wednesday, the committee unanimously voted to send a Report to both the Department and House and Senate Leaders stating that division had overstepped their authority by including examples such as an alien or graphics of the appropriate use of color in the new packaging guidelines issued in July.
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
During the meeting on October 18, legislators said they heard marijuana businesses complain that the guidelines are too complex to follow. They also questioned whether the division has the authority to establish the rules for plain packaging.
“We’re saying that these [rules] don’t rationally relate to protecting children,” said St. Louis Democrat state Rep. Peter Merideth. “And they aren’t something you have the authority to do under your constitution.” Our job is to ensure that they are not going beyond their constitutional and statutory authority.
Merideth said to The Independent that the report was essentially “a strongly-worded notice” which puts the division on alert. Merideth asked Moore at the October meeting if the division needed to pre-approve new labels.
Moore stated that the division had constitutional authority since medical marijuana legalization to require licensed companies submit their packaging to be approved, but did not start using this authority until recreational use of marijuana was legalized in 2014.
Moore stated, “We learned how operations played out” under medical marijuana. Moore said, “This was the area with the most non-compliance.” This is also a difficult area to enforce at the end of the process, when there has already been so much investment.
She said that requiring licensees destroy everything would have a “very significant financial impact” and many businesses were reluctant to do so. She says it is beneficial to everyone to obtain approval before printing labels.
Moore added, “But through the changes in the law we also understood that this should be given even more importance for protecting public health and children.”
Merideth stated that he has largely voiced the concerns of marijuana business owners at committee hearings, because he had not heard from constituents about this issue.
Nichole Dawsey is the executive director of PreventEd (formerly known as National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse). She said that she has heard from many parents who are worried about their children getting sick after consuming cannabis products with attractive labels.
Dawsey stated that “the fact that people do not care about the impact cannabis has on young people is false.” It’s just that our voices aren’t as loud.
She said PreventEd was largely composed of “public health nerds,” who viewed the division’s label and packaging requirements, as being essential to achieve the constitution mandate.
The Journal Pediatrics published a study earlier this year that found the number of calls to poison control centers regarding kids under 5 consuming edibles with THC increased from 207 in 2017 up to 3,054 by 2021, a 1,375% rise.
The National Poison Data System is a database which tracks poisoning reports. It contains more than 7,000 cases of pediatric poisonings.
Dawsey added that labels and packaging could also affect teenagers “starting to experiment” and who don’t realize that edibles and vapors can be more potent.
She said, “Clearness is kindness.” “While it may seem silly to say that we don’t want aliens, robots or humans, we have seen what happens if we aren’t clear.”
This article was originally published by Missouri Independent.
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