Pubdate: Sat, 07 Dec 2013
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2013 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Eric Gorski

SHOPS RACING TO BAG SAFETY

Several Owners Are Struggling to Find the Proper Containers.

Child-resistant packaging is a pillar of Colorado's rules for 
recreational pot shops, approved as a requirement months ago to 
reduce the risk of accidental ingestion by young children.

But several business owners say they are struggling to find vendors 
that manufacture the proper bags or can supply enough to meet demand 
in time for the opening of the first stores Jan. 1.

All retail pot products leaving shops-from buds to brownies-must be 
placed in opaque and child-resistant packaging.

"A number of our members are having an incredibly difficult time," 
said Mike Elliott, director of the Medical Marijuana Industry Group, 
the state's largest marijuana business group. "We're all looking for 
ways to comply with this rule, and everyone is worried we're not 
going to be able to, basically."

State regulators are not sympathetic. The packaging requirements were 
the subject of highprofile debate, were approved Sept. 9 and put into 
effect Oct. 15, said Julie Postlethwait, spokeswoman for the Colorado 
Marijuana Enforcement Division. She said it is disappointing if store 
owners waited until the last minute. "This is not a surprise that 
came and hit them over the heads," Postlethwait said. "The main point 
here, the focus the industry tends to forget, is we exist in order to 
ensure public safety. You don't want a child ingesting high-potency 
infused products. The risk is a child's health."

Industry representatives say they are committed to following the 
rules and keeping pot away from children. But they say they also are 
juggling a number of regulatory demands as they rush to prepare for 
what they hope will be a historic day.

Some prospective potshop owners - most are awaiting licensing and 
inspection approval that will allow them to open - say they've just 
recently found solutions to avert a packaging crisis.

Ean Seeb, co-owner of the medical-marijuana dispensary Denver Relief, 
said he has been talking since October with a New York company that 
sells a product called Stink Sack.

The company's owner, Ross Kirsh, landed in Denver this week and is 
visiting dispensaries with prototypes of his smell-proof bag with a 
double-locking mechanism that comes in three pot-friendly sizes.

The state defines child resistant packaging as "significantly 
difficult for children under 5 years of age to open and not difficult 
for normal adults to use properly" based on an international 
standards organization.

Kirsh said a half million of his opaque bags are in production and 
will be ready for delivery by Jan. 1.

Other companies are pitching packaging, but business owners remain 
skeptical there will be enough to go around.

Ryan Cook, a co-owner of The Clinic in Denver, a chain of medical 
marijuana dispensaries branching into retail sales, said he ordered 
packaging from China before the final state rules were issued because 
the turnaround for delivery is about three months.

Now, he is sitting on $40,000 worth of bags that don't pass muster 
because they are opaque on one side and clear on the other.

"For us, it was an unfortunate situation," Cook said. "But now I 
think the whole industry is faced with, 'Can everyone get the 
packaging they need in the time frame they need it?' That might be an 
uphill battle."

The Clinic prepackages its products at a warehouse and ships them to 
its six dispensaries, making tracking easier and more secure, he 
said. But Cook can't prepackage in darkened bags because customers 
want to see what they're shopping for. Something will need to change, he said.

"It stinks," Cook said. "It's our mistake. We knew the rules were 
coming out. But we were under the impression we had a package that 
was considered child-proof, resealable and tamperproof."

An August report from researchers at the Colorado School of Public 
Health and Children's Hospital Colorado predicted accidental 
marijuana ingestion by children would be cut nearly in half if the 
state required opaque, child-resistant packaging for pot leaving stores.

Colorado saw a rise in emergency-room visits by children who had 
ingested pot after medical dispensaries grew in number.

Postlethwait said ramifications for breaking packaging rules are 
being finalized, but the state can initially fine violators and take 
more serious actions if problems persist.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom