A recent study has shown that high-THC copycat cannabis edibles that look like well-known snacks increase the risk of ingestion by children.
Edibles are an increasingly popular segment of the cannabis market in the US, with up to 56 per cent of cannabis consumers buying them. Many of these products often use branding and imagery very similar to popular foods, which is raising public health concerns in the country – with nearly 2,000 cases of young children ages 0 to 9 consuming edibles from 2017 to 2019.
The study, carried out by the NYU School of Global Public Health, and published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, collected hundreds of photos of cannabis products and analysed packaging, finding that out of 267 edibles, 8 per cent closely resembled 13 different snack products.
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These findings highlight the risk that these copycat products could be attractive to children.
Lead author, Danielle Ompad, associate professor of epidemiology at NYU School of Global Public Health, said: “At first glance, most of the packages look almost exactly like familiar snacks.
“If these copycat cannabis products are not stored safely, there is the potential for accidental ingestion by children or adults.”
Twelve of the products were candies or sweet snacks and one was a salty snack. Eight of the 13 packages used the exact brand or product name of the original product; the remaining five used names that were similar, for example “Stoner Patch Dummies” instead of “Sour Patch Kids”. Seven of the packages used the same cartoon or brand character as the original product.
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“While each package is likely intended to include multiple doses, few packages indicate the serving size or number of servings,” said Ompad. “Moreover, if we’re considering 10 mg a standard dose, these products could contain an alarming 30 to 60 doses per package.
“Policies to prevent cannabis packaging from appealing to children haven’t stopped copycat products from entering the market — nor have food brands taken legal action against cannabis companies for copyright infringement.
“People who purchase edibles that look like snack foods should store them separately from regular snacks and out of reach of children.”
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