Marijuana dispensaries across Arizona would have to alter the packaging of their products if a bill moving forward in the Arizona Legislature becomes law.
The House Commerce Committee of the Arizona House of Representatives unanimously approved House Bill 2064 on Feb. 13. The House Rules Committee approved the bill Monday, advancing the legislation to the state senate.
Under the proposed bill, dispensaries would be prohibited from selling marijuana products that are packaged or labeled in a manner that is attractive to minors such as showing cartoons, brands, designs or images of celebrities that are commonly used to appeal to children.
Katie Rosso, budtender at Midtown Roots located just north of downtown Phoenix, said that all of the store’s packaging has “a very large keep away from children” warning as well as a caution label.
“We don’t have any products that have any cartoons, pictures of kids or anything like that,” said Rosso.
According to her, none of Midtown Roots products would have to be repackaged if the proposed bill became law, but Russo agreed that the bill should pass in order to minimize the number of children that could confuse medical marijuana with candy.
Sponsor Rep. Vince Leach, R-Tucson, said HB 2064 is a “common sense bill” because it would protect children from inadvertent exposure and would lower instances where medical marijuana is accidentally ingested.
“We just had a case in Glendale last week where a child had to be treated by first responders for ingesting medical marijuana,” Leach said.
In 2016, Arizona did not pass Proposition 205, which would have legalized recreational marijuana in the state. Currently, Arizona law for medical marijuana requires that it be packaged in child-resistant packaging. Other states like California, Colorado and Oregon already have similar laws to HB 2064.
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, a supporter of the bill, said the language of the bill mirrors the mutual concern about protecting children from the enticement of these products.
“The bill reflects everything I’ve heard from industry representatives and the repeated and consistent declaration that there is no interest in wanting to market to children,” said Montgomery.
There is no data to help support the bill, because the number of kids who have accidentally ingested medical marijuana is unknown. Montgomery said the concern is at the front end of marketing and packaging.
“We don’t see alcohol that looks like Yoo-hoo and have a label similar to Yoo-hoo or have packaging that looks similar to Coca-Cola,” said Montgomery. “A gummy bear or gummy worm that is filled with marijuana or packing that makes it look like Reese’s Cups or a Snickers bar are the items that are necessarily going to have a similar attractive quality to them.”
Rep. Todd Clodfelter, R-Tucson, agreed at the hearing that children need to be protected, but wondered how much of that responsibility falls to into the hands of the industry.
Clodfelter jokingly asked, “I often wonder what type of label are we going to put on Tide Pods to keep teenagers from eating those?”
Rep. Jeff Weninger, R-Chandler, explained why he voted yes to the bill.
“It’s not like you get amoxicillin at the pharmacy and there are cartoons on it and it’s shaped like a bear or some type of cute animal,” said Weninger. “Medicine looks a certain way so it doesn’t get confused like that.”
Contact the reporter at Emily.Garcia.1@asu.edu.
