A new public service ad warning parents of cannabis edibles that are illegally packaged to look like common kid snacks is now running in Connecticut.
The ad begins with kids opening their school lockers. They find candy, and excited, they trade. But what looks like regular candy is really cannabis. Then Bryan Cafferelli, state consumer protection commissioner, walks down the school’s hallway with William Tong, Connecticut’s attorney general.
“We want to keep our kids safe. We want them here,” Cafferelli says in the ad. “Not there,” Tong adds, standing next to an ambulance.
Since 2021, the Connecticut Poison Control Center has received hundreds of calls regarding cannabis exposure in children — including kids under six years old exposed to cannabis edibles. The majority of those cases required treatment at a heath care facility, according to Tong’s office.
In an interview, Tong says now that Connecticut has an adult-use cannabis market, “a lot of people think that means that they can do or sell whatever they want, and that’s just not the case.”
“We have smoke shops, vape shops, convenience stores, gas stations, selling illegal products that are attractive to kids,” he says.
Residents over age 21 can legally possess and consume cannabis in Connecticut. But products may only be sold in the regulated market and must meet testing and packaging requirements.
Packaging for edible cannabis products must be uniformly white and cannot be visually similar to any commercially similar product that does not contain cannabis.
Tong says his office needs more power to enforce these rules, which as of now consists of removing the product off the shelves and getting illegal sellers to pay fines.
“But they’re civil enforcement actions and we could use more help from the criminal authorities and potentially more robust criminal penalties in our laws,” he says.
The ad warns parents to pay attention to where their kids are getting their candy and chips.
This story was first published March 21, 2024 by Connecticut Public.