How to Stay Compliant with California’s Child-Resistant Marijuana Packaging Rules
California was one of the first states in the USA to allow legal recreational use of marijuana within state borders. As part of the legalization of cannabis within the state, a variety of specific regulations were put into place to ensure the safe distribution of the product in a way that best benefits recreational and medical customers while still ensuring that children are not able to get access to marijuana or THC-infused products.
CA law makes clear that marijuana packaging, and specifically any packaging for edible marijuana products, are child-resistant, tamper-evident, and thoroughly labeled. Specifically, the law states that all packaging must meet the guidelines set forth for “special packaging” in the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 Regulations (16 C.F.R. §1700.1(b)(4)):
Special packaging means packaging that is designed or constructed to be significantly difficult for children under 5 years of age to open or obtain a toxic or harmful amount of the substance contained therein within a reasonable time and not difficult for normal adults to use properly, but does not mean packaging which all such children cannot open or obtain a toxic or harmful amount within a reasonable time.
In addition, the packaging is specifically restricted from being bright, graphical, or colorful in order to avoid enticing kids. Edible, marijuana-infused products can only use generic food names and must avoid visual and textual comparisons to any other pre-existing brands.
The exact requirements of California’s Assembly Bill 266 make clear that labels must include the following:
California also has a specific rule within the provisions stating that products must also include a specific graphic warning about the presence of THC. Initially, this was a red, downward-pointing triangle in red, but subsequent packaging has introduced a new, upward-facing triangular warning sign including a marijuana leaf next to an exclamation point.
Original and current CA Marijuana Warning Label
Hopefully, this has been a useful start in your search for the specific regulations regarding child-resistant packaging for marijuana or other THC/CBD-infused products in the state of California. For further details, it might be worth checking out the full text of California State Assembly Bill 266, though we’d definitely recommend you find a comfy chair first.
If your dispensary or other manufacturing facility is in need of custom-printed packaging for your products, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team here at Canna Sundries.
DISCLAIMER: The contents of the CannaSundries website regulatory pages are intended to convey general information. The information here should not be relied upon for legal advice on state marijuana laws. We provide links to state cannabis regulatory sites; we do not vouch for or assume any responsibility for the content, accuracy or completeness of material presented in linked sites. The information presented on these pages may not reflect the most current legal developments in the marijuana industry. We disclaim all liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any or all of the contents of this site to the fullest extent permitted by law.