Author：BettyDate：2020-11-19
“As global awareness of climate change increases, more people are learning about all the different choices they can make to do their part in combating these issues [of excess waste],” says Jed McWhorter, director of purchasing at Curaleaf, the world’s largest cannabis company.
While McWhorter acknowledges that “reducing the amount of single-use plastics is a good first step” when it comes to things like reusable grocery bags and refillable water bottles, the hands of the cannabis industry are largely tied when it comes to sustainable options.
“Unfortunately, many state packaging requirements lead to a lot of single-use plastics within the industry. For example, many states require child-resistant packaging, which requires an additional layer of plastic packaging across the supply chain,” McWhorter says.
He’s referring to the required but often tedious, extra packaging add-ons designed to keep children out of cannabis products (and that often end up keeping adults out, too).
In addition to being annoying, these create extra plastic packaging that other legal intoxicants, like alcohol, for example, aren’t required to have. Whether they keep children (who, if they have access to scissors, can easily access the product inside) safe or not is another question entirely.
According to California regulations, which were codified in Proposition 64, the law that legalized adult use cannabis in the state, there are different labeling requirements for smokable cannabis, like flower or pre-rolled joints, versus what it considers “manufactured” cannabis products, like edibles, topicals, and concentrates.
The state also provides a packaging checklist that requires a cannabis package sold in a dispensary to be:
Tamper-evident. This includes things like a plastic seal, a sticker across the lid that rips when opened, or jars with lids that pop up after opening.
Child-resistant. Plastic packaging must be at least 4 millimeters thick and heat-sealed or certified in accordance with the federal Poison Prevention Packaging Act.
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