Pubdate: Thu, 01 May 2014
Source: Delaware County Daily Times (PA)
Copyright: 2014 The Daily Times
Contact:  http://www.delcotimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1284
Page: 22

COLORADO EYES EDIBLES RULES AS MORE PEOPLE INGEST POT

DENVER (AP) - Colorado's marijuana experiment is threatened by the
popularity of eating it instead of smoking it, leading the pot
industry to join health officials and state regulators to try to curb
the problem of consumers ingesting too much weed.

A task force that's meeting Wednesday planned to start work on
refining Colorado's rules on edibles, the industry term for marijuana
that has been concentrated and infused into food or drink.

"Basically, we are trying to figure out how to come up with a
reasonable THC concentration or amount in edibles in proportion to
product safety size," said Dr. George Sam Wang of Children's Hospital
Colorado, a pediatric emergency physician who has treated children and
toddlers who fell ill after eating marijuana.

Marijuana-infused foods are booming state's new recreational
market.

Some choose edible pot because of health concerns about smoking the
drug. Others are visitors who can't find a hotel that allows toking
and are stymied by a law barring public outdoor pot smoking. Whether
through inexperience or confusion, many are eating too much pot too
quickly, with potentially deadly consequences.

A college student from Wyoming jumped to his death from a Denver
hotel balcony last month after consuming six times the recommended
dosage of a marijuana-infused cookie. And earlier this month, a Denver
man accused of shooting his wife reportedly ate pot-laced candy before
the attack, though police say he may have had other drugs in his
system.

The deaths have underscored a common complaint from new marijuana
customers - they say they don't know how much pot to eat and then have
unpleasant experiences when they ingest too much.

Colorado already limits THC - marijuana's intoxicating chemical - in
edible pot products to 10mg per serving, with a maximum of 10 servings
per package. Exact comparisons are tricky because marijuana varies
widely in potency and quality, but 10mg of THC is considered roughly
equivalent to the amount in a medium-sized joint.

Edibles must be sold in opaque, childproof containers that explicitly
warn the product contains marijuana and hasn't been tested for safety
or potency. Colorado also bans retailers from adding concentrated pot
to a premade food item, such as injecting cannabis oil into a branded
candy bar, though the move is common among home cooks.
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MAP posted-by: Matt