The Green Mountain state’s new green industry just got a bit greener, as cannabis regulators in Vermont recently unveiled new rules which prohibit companies from using plastic packaging.
Guidance released by Vermont’s Cannabis Control Board suggests the use of packaging made from glass, tin, cardboard and bamboo instead. The state also clarified that cannabis flower products only need to be sold in “child-deterrent” packaging, a less burdensome requirement than “child-resistant” packaging that usually requires the use of plastic or other hard materials. All of these rules will be in place when adult-use sales begin in Vermont sometime later this year, and regulators from Massachusetts and other legal states will be keeping a keen eye on Vermont to see what kind of impact the plastic ban will have.
It’s refreshing to see a neighboring state that is willing to acknowledge the fact that child-resistant packaging for cannabis flower products makes little sense. Unlike cannabis edibles, cannabis flower will not cause intoxication simply by being eaten, meaning there’s no real risk to the child unless they are old enough to figure out how to roll a joint and operate a lighter. And if a child is old enough to do those things, they are also old enough to open up “child-resistant” packaging, which is generally only rated to stop children under the age of 5 from being able to open it.
It’s the perfect example of security theater, the practice of creating security measures that are intended to provide the feeling of improved security, while doing little or nothing to achieve it. Worse, in the name of protecting children, we’re just creating additional plastic waste that will continue to impact future generations long after we’re all gone.
