Inkbrite had an interesting post recently. A class-action complaint has been filed in San Francisco County’s Superior Court alleging that a company claiming on its packaging to use live resin does not, in fact, use live resin but a distillate with terpenes re-added. Far from just a debate of semantics between us cannabis licensing and compliance nerds, no matter where this case goes, there are a few critical points to consider for all operators.

Cannabis packaging compliance matters

• First, compliance on cannabis packaging matters just as much as compliance inside your cannabis operation. We often hear about the costs of noncompliance at retailers or cultivators, but packaging and labeling matter, too. While child-proofing is a big issue with packaging compliance, what you print on the labels and packaging is critical as well. What you have printed on your packaging, particularly as enforcement ramps up as legal sales also increase, needs to be as accurate and, in many instances, unvarnished as possible.
• Secondly, words matter. It’s something we discussed around the water cooler in our office back before the Great Distancing, and it’s still something we discuss in emails and our grouptexts. Words matter in your everyday interactions, naturally, but for operators words are exponentially more important. As Inkbrite astutely points out, there’s a significant and technical distinction between live resins and distillates. While those of us in the industry know this difference, consumers may or may not. Being as technically accurate and also transparent on packaging is a premium licensed operators need to take to heart. Too much public trust has been earned via consumers trusting tested products for it to be lost due to discrepancies in product versus what the packaging says.
• Finally, with Governor Newsom writing into law appellation of origin for California cannabis, packaging compliance will matter even more moving into the future. Operators need to keenly aware of what you can and, critically, cannot say or put on labels or marketing materials when it comes to where a product was grown or made.

Much like last summer saw new actions from state regulators on the cannabis universal symbol on packaging, enforcement and compliance has been an ongoing theme this summer. To be blunt, cannabis compliance and enforcement are catching up with the licensed market in California and the costs are going up. Be it the BCC releasing fact sheets on branded merchandise, or the substantial update to Metrc this fall, compliance isn’t just coming, compliance is here.

Have questions about cannabis packaging compliance? Contact MMLG today, we offer audits on cannabis packaging and labeling.