Pubdate: Sun, 28 Dec 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Jordan Steffen

POT EDIBLES A BIG, RISKY SURPRISE IN FIRST YEAR OF RECREATIONAL SALES

As one of the people charged with implementing marijuana legalization 
in Colorado, Ron Kammerzell thought he had considered everything.

And then inexperienced users bit off more than they could chew, and 
reports of people consuming too much edible pot at once started to add up.

"That really wasn't on anyone's radar," Kammerzell said.

The proliferation of marijuana infused edibles stunned state and 
industry leaders, making it one of the biggest surprises during the 
first year of legal recreational marijuana sales. Potent cookies, 
candies and drinks-once considered a niche market-now account for 
roughly 45 percent of the legal marijuana marketplace and led to the 
most high-profile marijuana controversies in 2014.

The variety of edibles available became a "point of fascination" for 
consumers, said Joe Hodas, chief marketing officer for Dixie Elixirs 
& Edibles, one of Colorado's largest producers of infused products.

"We knew that there would be consumer interest in edibles, but I 
think we did underestimate that the demand would exceed our 
expectations," Hodas said.

Neither Kammerzell, enforcement director for the Department of 
Revenue, which regulates marijuana businesses, nor Hodas predicted 
the overwhelming popularity of edibles or the problems stemming from 
overconsumption. During the rollout of medical marijuana sales, there 
were no serious reports of overconsumption, Kammerzell said.

But when recreational marijuana sales became legal Jan. 1, the makeup 
of legal marijuana consumers changed overnight-from experienced users 
with higher tolerances to floods of novice consumers, many of whom 
were unaware that one candy or cookie can contain 10 times the 
recommended amount of 10 milligrams of THC, the psychoactive chemical 
in marijuana.

During the first month of recreational sales, Dixie Elixirs saw a 
fivefold increase in the number of orders it received compared with 
two months before, Hodas said. For many inexperienced users, the idea 
of discreetly nibbling on a chocolate truffle was more appealing than 
smoking pot.

"That image of sitting with a big joint, that's not something these 
new users are really interested in," Hodas said.

But as the popularity of edibles grew, so did concerns about overconsumption.

In March, the same month state lawmakers started working on 
legislation requiring regulators to create additional rules for 
labeling edibles, Wyoming college student Levy Thamba, 19, became 
agitated after eating a marijuana-infused cookie and leapt to his 
death from a Denver hotel balcony.

Weeks later, Richard Kirk allegedly shot and killed his wife after 
nibbling on a marijuana-infused caramel chew. A low level of THC was 
found in Kirk's blood that night, but prosecutors argue Kirk acted 
deliberately and the effects of the drug were not enough to affect 
his grasp on reality.

Those two events spurred a frenzied conversation on the potential 
risks of edibles. A working group was formed, and state officials and 
industry leaders teamed up to improve education for consumers.

Bud tenders, who before had been making recommendations of how much 
to eat based on their own experiences, worked to give consumers 
consistent instructions, Hodas said. Using the slogan "Start low and 
go slow," they advised inexperienced users to eat a small portion of 
an edible and wait.

Even as improvements were made in education, hospitals continued to 
see an increase in the number of children and adults coming into 
emergency rooms after having consumed too much of an edible.

"The increase from a medical standpoint has been dramatic," said Dr. 
Christopher Colwell, chief of emergency medicine at Denver Health 
Medical Center.

Colwell estimated there was a fivefold to tenfold increase in the 
number of patients-including a sharp rise in the number of 
adolescents and teenagers- arriving at the hospital after consuming 
part or all of a marijuana edible.

Colwell said he expected an increase in the number of marijuana 
cases. But he said he was surprised and concerned with the higher 
potency of THC in the edibles and the more severe symptoms it can cause.

State regulators started incentive programs for producers to create 
products with lower or single servings of THC, Kammerzell said. Most 
have already started shifting toward single-serving products.

But Dr. Larry Wolk, executive director of the Colorado Department of 
Public Health and Environment, said few of his concerns surrounding 
edibles were addressed this year. In October, the health department 
proposed a ban on the sales of nearly all forms of edibles but 
quickly dropped the idea after an industry outcry.

Wolk said even after changes in packaging and decreasing the amount 
of THC in edibles, he is still concerned that as long as edibles come 
in the form of cookies, candies and other foods enticing to children, 
they will continue to be dangerous for children.

"There's the potential that we, the health department, could be 
viewed as the bad guy," Wolk said. "We've learned after the fact that 
something more needs to be done to protect the public and especially our kids."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom