If you’re a fan of cannabis, listen up: Scientists are warning that legal recreational weed products are often missing some important details on their packaging.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder analyzed hundreds of cannabis products sold by dispensaries across the state. Just one in seven products had all the warnings and other information required on their labeling, they found. Cannabis flower products were especially misleading or inaccurate, with only half listing the correct amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) they contained.
“Unfortunately, when it came to warning labels, compliance overall was not great, and when it came to flower, it was pretty abysmal,” said lead author Grace Macdonald, a professional research assistant at the Center for Health and Neuroscience, Genes, and Environment, in a statement from the university.
The team has previously compared the advertised THC labeling of cannabis products, finding they often didn’t align with the actual contents measured with lab tests. This time around, they took a broader look at labeling in general.
Federal law has greatly limited how researchers can work with recreational cannabis, which is still classified as a Schedule I controlled substance. So the team partnered with the company MedPharm Holdings LLC for this study and others. They had a secret shopper buy 480 cannabis products at 52 dispensaries in the state.
