A study by Professors Rob MacCoun and Michelle Mello on the need for stricter regulations for marijuana edibles is cited in this Washington Post article. 

If you were groggily fumbling to make your child’s breakfast in the morning, are you sure you wouldn’t mistake a Pot Tart for a Pop Tart? Such child-friendly marijuana edibles were the subject a much-discussed editorial by Stanford Professors Robert MacCoun and Michelle Mello in yesterday’s New England Journal of Medicine. Taking note of cases in which children have required emergency room care after ingesting these newly legal products, MacCoun and Mello call for stronger regulations, including clearer labeling, standardized serving sizes, child-resistant packaging and a cap on the potency of the marijuana in edibles.

The Drug Enforcement Administration long ago raided the California-based manufacturer of “Pot Tarts” and “Buddafingers.” But as drug policy problems go, this one actually might be pretty complex. Opponents and advocates of marijuana legalization disagree on many things, but the importance of protecting children is not one of them. The child-targeted cartoon character Joe Camel was banished to widespread applause, so how hard could it be to protect children again here?Harder than you might think, for four reasons.

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If you were groggily fumbling to make your child’s breakfast in the morning, are you sure you wouldn’t mistake a Pot Tart for a Pop Tart? Such child-friendly marijuana edibles were the subject a much-discussed editorial by Stanford Professors Robert MacCoun and Michelle Mello in yesterday’s New England Journal of Medicine. Taking note of cases in which children have required emergency room care after ingesting these newly legal products, MacCoun and Mello call for stronger regulations, including clearer labeling, standardized serving sizes, child-resistant packaging and a cap on the potency of the marijuana in edibles.

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Third, although depriving violent criminals of illegal marijuana revenue is a public good, it at the same time means that new legal businesses gain resources to weaken the regulatory process through lobbying. The nascent marijuana industry is already hiring lobbyists and making campaign contributions, and may not welcome MacCoun and Mello’s proposals. Indeed, when MacCoun raised the issue at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Denver, he got a “frosty reception” from an audience of activists and entrepreneurs.

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