The Washington Poison Center revealed a new warning symbol for edible marijuana products Wednesday.
The new symbol is to help prevent children from confusing edible products with regular cookies or candy and identifies the product as "not for kids."
“The number of calls to the Washington Poison Center related to marijuana exposures reached a single-year high in 2015 with 272 calls,” said the Poison Center’s managing director, Dr. Alexander Garrard.
The label includes the center’s emergency helpline number, 1-800-222-1222, which is free and confidential.
If the rules follow the expected timeline, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board will require the warning symbol to be on such products 90 days after the effective date of January 17, 2017.
Last year, the Washington Poison Center reports that of the marijuana calls they received, nearly half of the people were under age 19.
Earlier this year, the state Liquor and Cannabis Board included a provision in marijuana draft rules that required the Mr. Yuk® symbol to be affixed to all edible pot products based on public input. The board later dropped the requirement while the poison center developed its own symbol.
Cox Media Group
