{"id":9471,"date":"2022-05-20T15:25:20","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T15:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=5227078"},"modified":"2022-05-20T15:25:20","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T15:25:20","slug":"marijuana-labeling-system-not-an-effective-or-safe-way-to-detail-whats-inside-the-products-cu-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/marijuana-labeling-system-not-an-effective-or-safe-way-to-detail-whats-inside-the-products-cu-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Marijuana labeling system \u201cnot an effective or safe way\u201d to detail what\u2019s inside the products, CU study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/marijuana-labeling-system-not-an-effective-or-safe-way-to-detail-whats-inside-the-products-cu-study-finds\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/marijuana-labeling-system-not-an-effective-or-safe-way-to-detail-whats-inside-the-products-cu-study-finds.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Marijuana product labels fail to capture \u201cthe chemical reality\u201d of what people smoke, a University of Colorado <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0267498\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">study<\/a> has concluded after analyzing 90,000 samples offered for sale in six states.<\/p>\n<p>The widely used labeling system purported to predict effects of different \u201cstrains\u201d \u2014 \u201cindica\u201d (relaxed high), \u201csativa\u201d (energetic high), and \u201chybrid\u201d \u2014 obscures the diversity of chemicals cannabis consumers inhale, according to the study, which was published Thursday in the online science journal PLOS One.<\/p>\n<p>CU information scientists analyzed labels that companies provided for an online platform called Leafly, which lets consumers see a more complete listing of contents in marijuana products. They compared this labeling with the commonly used system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe prevailing labeling system is not an effective or safe way to provide information about these products,\u201d said University of Colorado information sciences professor Brian Keegan, who co-authored the study with Daniela Vergara, now at Cornell University.<\/p>\n<p>For example, imagine a woman walking into a liquor story to buy a bottle of wine labeled Cabernet who then finds it to be Pinot Grigio.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou would, justifiably, be upset,\u201d Keegan said. \u201cIn the cannabis industry, those kinds of mismatches can happen frequently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The researchers recommend creation of a standardized \u201cweed labeling system\u201d similar to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration\u2019s nutrition facts labels on food products.<\/p>\n<p>Their study stands out as perhaps the largest so far exploring the chemical composition of marijuana products. A decade after marijuana legalization in Colorado, product labeling has emerged as an issue amid a push by companies for greater professionalization.<\/p>\n<p>Marijuana products heavily marketed to consumers contain dozens of chemical compounds with potential psychoactive or medicinal effects. CU\u2019s researchers contend understanding these chemicals is crucial.<\/p>\n<p>Government regulators of the industry in Colorado and other states where marijuana has been legalized require companies to disclose dosages of the psychoactive THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol) chemicals. This focus led to wide use of the indica, sativa and hybrid labels to distinguish different strains offered to consumers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut that\u2019s not the most important thing about the cannabis that is consumed. There\u2019s a whole set of chemicals, beyond THC, that explain why different strains are different and why people might experience different effects,\u201d Keegan said.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Companies aren\u2019t obligated to list compounds such as terpenes and flavonoids that play a greater role determining taste, smell and effects. The CU researchers concluded marijuana strains more accurately could be distinguished using different categories. One could encompass products high in terpenes called caryophyllene and limonene, the researchers said. Another group could contain elevated myrcene and pinene. Another could be categorized for high terpinolene and myrcene.<\/p>\n<p>Groups including the Institute for Safe Medication Practices previously have called for national regulation of medical marijuana labeling to ensure states can protect consumers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you were trying to make dietary decisions using labels that only listed calories and fat, that would hamper your dietary decisions,\u201d and the current labeling of marijuana products \u201cis a profound disserve to consumers,\u201d Keegan said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is a cause for concern, particularly if you are treating this plant as a medicine,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would be great to have labels that convey the whole rainbow of chemicals that are present in cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Marijuana product labels fail to capture &#8220;the chemical reality&#8221; of what people smoke, a University of Colorado study has concluded after analyzing 90,000 samples offered for sale in six states. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[52,8387,6811,8388,2205,6892,7938,77,7280,9,5019,1,3,881,61,1736],"tags":[2632,8389,6816,8390,4773,6893,7939,2655,7283,5022,3454],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9471"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9471\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}