Colorado Rep Wants To Ban Pot Edibles ‘To Protect Children’

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Photo: Colorado Medical Marijuana Dispensary Review
Marijuana-infused edibles such as these delicious-looking cookies would be banned in Colorado under a bill being debated Tuesday in the Colorado House.

​The Colorado House is scheduled on Tuesday to debate a measure which would ban the medical marijuana edibles industry in the state. Most observers gave the bill a low chance of passage.

House Bill 1250 co-sponsor Rep. Cindy Acree (R) claimed the medibles business is bad for both children and patients, and adds that patients can still make their own cannabis edibles, reports Michael Roberts at Denver Westword. “They can use it however they want: bake with it, drink it, whatever,” she said. “And it doesn’t ban any of the base product, like the oils, the tinctures.”
“The way it’s written now preserves the integrity of the constitutional obligation to make sure patients have access to medicinal products,” Acree said. “But the bill would ban edible food and beverage products.”
And why, exactly, is a ban needed on commercially prepared marijuana edibles?
“Things like ‘pot tarts’ have been showing up on school grounds,” Acree claimed. “And they don’t have regulated doses. I think even patients are misled by some of these things.”


Photo: Radaris
Rep. Cindy Acree: “Remember, this is all against federal law”

​”Remember, this is all against federal law,” Acree lectured. “Anyone who doesn’t have a prescription who ends up with one of these products can be charged, and are in many cases charged, with possession.”
“You can’t tell the difference between Rice Krispies treats you buy at Target and some of these other ones,” Acree claimed. “They look just alike. And we’re seeing suckers packaged in a way that they could easily end up in the hands of children on school grounds.
“And patients who are drinking these sodas and eating these products have no way of knowing how much THC is in there,” Acree said. “That’s not safe, either. If it’s a medicinal product, it needs to not only be marketed as a medicinal product, but be clearly identified as a medicinal product.”
Of course, these issues could be addressed by establishing rules for packaging and labeling. But Acree claims that prohibition is the only logical course.
Dispensary owner Shaun Gindi said she thinks the bill would help her business, but hurt medical marijuana patients.
“There are plenty of patients that rely on edibles,” Gindi said, reports The Huffington Post. “Doing away with edibles would do nothing but boost MMJ [medical marijuana sales]… But from the ethical, moral and plain ole common sense point of view, this is an absolutely ridiculous law to try to pass.”
The ban on edible marijuana products in Colorado “seems unlikely,” according to The Associated Press, which reports that the state Department of Revenue is finalizing rules about how medibles should be produced and labeled.
Acree appears likely to ask for her bill to be shelved, according to AP, but dozens of protesters were still expected at the Capitol Tuesday for a hearing on the bill.

Here is the full text of the bill:

Medical Marijuana Edibles Ban: Colorado House Bill 11-1250

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