By Heather Ritchie, Staff Writer for Cannabis Compliance and Packaging Magazine
Cannabis packaging laws are constantly changing. These regulations make it challenging for businesses to remain compliant. It leaves a constant fear of sanctions and substantial fines. In California, proposition 65 has essentially changed regulations for packaging once again.
Regulations for Health Safety
These regulations, also called the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, were enacted in 1986 to help the state’s residents make informed decisions about chemicals already known to cause birth defects, reproductive harm, and cancer. The regulations of Proposition 65 will be enforced starting August 30, 2018, prompting businesses to ensure their packaging meets the requirements, knowing that as the industry grows, there will be more changes.
Since the cannabis industry is so controversial, it’s under more scrutiny than others making compliance with laws and regulations much like walking through a minefield. Acorn Paper Cannabis Packaging offers a solution with the new division they’ve launched. They help clients traverse this maze by providing an “in stock” bag with available 24-hour delivery that meets state requirements for childproof bags for customer walkout.
The All-in-One Packaging Solution
Acorn’s new division meets the customizable promotional needs, packaging, janitorial/sanitation, and paper needs of the industry throughout the entire supply chain to include, consumer retail products, distributors, manufacturers, and growers. The company recognizes the need for a one-stop packaging solution for all areas in the cannabis marketplace. Since the industry is forecasted to reach $70 billion in the next few years, this need will only increase.
Regulations will evolve as the cannabis industry does. There are a variety of rules and laws like those that require cannabis companies to guarantee that their packaging is child-proof and tamper-proof for obvious safety reasons. Each state’s regulations, like California and Proposition 65, are different. In Colorado, tighter packaging regulations went into effect because there were several cases where children ingested cannabis edibles thinking that they were candy.
Companies like Acorn are trying to manage the cannabis packaging for businesses so that they can focus on sales, customers, and marketing. As time goes on, and the stigma of cannabis subsides, the kinks in the laws and regulation will smooth out as more structure is built into the industry.
