We recently wrote about why Health Canada should raise the limits on edibles dosing in their review of cannabis regulations to better meet their goals for legalization.  Now let’s take a look at why the current regulations for cannabis packaging are working against Health Canada’s aims and why changing the laws would be better for everyone.

What are the cannabis packaging regulations in Canada?

Canadian Regulations require plain packaging and labelling for all cannabis products and place heavy restrictions on logos, colours, and branding.

Cannabis products must be packaged in opaque, child-resistant containers, and be labelled with the standardized cannabis symbol, mandatory health warnings, and specific product information, like how much THC and CBD is in the product. There are additional restrictions placed around packaging, which can be summarized in four main rules:

1. Can’t appeal to young people;
2. Can’t use a testimonial or endorsement, which is why we’ve seen celebrity moves like Drake engaging in a joint venture with Canopy to get around Health Canada’s rules, or Supreme and KKE terminating their partnership because Health Canada disallowed the use of Khalifa’s name in brand and marketing materials;
3. Can’t have a depiction of a person, character, or animal, whether real or fictional;
4. Can’t evoke an emotion about a lifestyle, such as glamour, recreation, excitement, vitality, risk or daring.

Health Canada has given three aims for these packaging regulations:

1. Reduce the risks of accidental consumption and overconsumption;
2. Reduce the appeal of cannabis products to young people;
3. Provide consumers with the information they need to make informed decisions before using cannabis.

Most people wouldn’t argue with the wisdom of these three goals. Cannabis legalization is still pretty new and stigma still exists, so it’s important to make sure that cannabis producers and retailers are working to ensure the public’s health and safety.  However, the regulations in their current iteration are directly working against these goals for a few reasons.

1. They prevent cannabis consumers from making their most informed decision by disallowing education about the product, brand, use cases, and potential effects to be listed on the package.

Most Canadians adults learn by reading.  It’s not the only way we learn things, and not everyone learns best through this method, but many of us educate ourselves about products we find in stores by looking at the packaging. When we’re in the grocery store, the pharmacy, or the health food store we learn about products, ingredients, and use cases just by picking up the package and reading it. When we see a new product we can use the packaging to learn how it’s used, what it’s for, and whether or not it might be right for us.

Consumers care about who and what they’re supporting with their dollars.  They want to know about the brand, who owns the company and what they stand for, and how they treat their employees.  Consumers are already accustomed to finding that information on packaging, and it makes sense that cannabis producers should be able to include more of that information too.

2. Current regulations have created a large gap in the marketplace that continues to be filled by the unregulated market.

Consumers want access to fun products in fun packaging.  They want to be able to visually enjoy what they’re about to consume. Just look at the Legacy Market’s vast array of edibles that look just like uninfused candy, which put kids at greater risk for accidental consumption than regulated products do.  Alcohol packaging gives more great examples of the kinds of branding that speaks to consumers, including depictions of characters, bright and metallic colors, and interesting imagery.

Because current regulations are so strict, producers are prevented from using packaging with any “fun” elements, even going so far as to ban fluorescent or metallic colors.  But we know that the human eye is drawn to colour and imagery, and consumers prefer packaging that incorporates these elements into its design.

If everything else stays the same, consumers will prefer to purchase attractive products over boring-looking products. For a consumer who is on the fence between choosing a regulated vs. unregulated product, appealing packaging may be the deciding factor in their decision.  This preference allows the illicit market to flourish and prevents Health Canada from achieving their goals for promoting public health and safety.

Besides, all cannabis products are sold in an age-gated environment anyways. So allowing fun branding on the products doesn’t mean they necessarily appeal to children, as underage people are not in the stores looking at them.

3. By disallowing most of the branding and education elements from packaging, Health Canada has made cannabinoid content the main metric for consumers to evaluate the product. This has led to consumers who value dried flower with a very high THC percentage over other factors.

Most experienced consumers would rather consider several factors when choosing cannabis products, and not just THC or CBD percentage. These factors can include price, budtender recommendations, packaging, quality, product type, feeling respected by the brand, product name, packaging warnings, availability, accessibility, and legal status.

However, regulations that prevent customers from seeing what they’re purchasing prior to buying it, that disallow brand and product education on packaging, and that prevent producers from creating enjoyable or attractive packaging leave consumers with very few ways to evaluate the product inside the package.  THC/CBD percentage is the main metric available on regulated packaging. Consequently, we’ve seen a rise in both average THC levels in Canadian weed and in the number of consumers seeking high cannabinoid products. Despite what we know about terpenes, personal biology, and the entourage effect, Health Canada’s packaging regulations have created an entire class of consumers who believe that good cannabis means high THC cannabis, rather than consumers who understand that cannabis is a holistic plant and consider many factors when choosing the right products for them.  

Health Canada can easily address each these issues by simply changing their approach to packaging.  Rather than treat it like tobacco, cannabis packaging should be treated in a similar way to alcohol packaging, especially because cannabis is sold in an age-gated environment, while alcohol is not.