Understanding Child-Resistant Packaging
Cannabis packaging regulations change often. The rules on packaging vary from state to state, but one thing remains nearly universal — child resistance. These regulations are designed to help protect children from accidentally ingesting cannabis products. This is increasingly important as the market for these products has expanded beyond the cannabis flower to include topicals, concentrates, soaps, edibles and more.
Lawmakers tend to focus heavily on edibles since children may confuse them for candy. Child resistance is a safety standard set by laws passed in the 1970s to prevent children from ingesting harmful chemicals. If state lawmakers aren’t immediately requiring child resistance, it’s only a matter of time before they will.
Here’s some information to help you choose the right flexible packaging material provider for your legal cannabis goods. Many packaging manufacturers seem to zero in on the zippers and other enclosures, but it’s only one part of the story. If packaging manufacturers are using a child-resistant closure with a film that’s easy to tear, they will still fail child-resistant standards.
Not all so-called “child-resistant” packaging is created equal. For maximum protection, consider choosing certified child-resistant packaging where the entire package has been evaluated and tested using the Consumer Product Safety Commission's standards.
Child-resistant labs use participants ranging from 42 to 51 months of age, evenly distributed by gender, to test the packaging. Senior adults also participate in the testing. The goal is to ensure children stay out, but seniors can get in. Children attempt to open the package by pulling various parts of the bag with their hands and teeth. Knowing that your legal cannabis flex packaging has undergone this rigorous testing will help give you peace of mind that you are protecting young lives.