The medical cannabis program of Utah has been in operation for a couple of years. And when you are a business that is looking to get your products on dispensary shelves, you have likely realized something that is very fast.
Utah is not playing around with packaging.
In the country, the state has one of the most stringent requirements. This is what you really should know.
Child-resistant packaging is not an option
First things first. All cannabis items on sale in Utah must be in childproof packages. And I mean everything.
The standard of poison prevention at the federal level is what we are discussing. When it takes a five-year-old less than ten minutes to open it, then it is not going to pass. This is with flower containers, vape cartridges, edibles, tinctures, the entire package.
The package must remain child-proofed during the existence of the product. And as long as you consider those nice reusable tins, during the thought process, make sure that they are up to standard, even after the person opens and closes them a few times.
The “see-through” rule
This is one of the pitfalls of a lot of brands. Most of the products in Utah need opaque packaging.
The cannabis is not visible even when it is in the package on the shelf. No transparent jars, no windows, and so on.
The only exception is when the package was displayed in a case or on the counter where the patients cannot simply reach it. However, in the case of products that are in the open air, the packaging must not allow sight.
That is not the case in many other states. Factor in your design.
Serving sizes and dosing
Edibles come with their rules. All the servings must be wrapped or marked. And not more than ten servings can pass into the package.
So a gummy is 10mg, which you can have ten of them in a bag. That’s 100mg total. However, when you are preparing a chocolate bar, it must have score lines that allow patients to cut the chocolate bar into ten equal parts.
The label must indicate the per-serving and the amount. Big and clear. No small print concealing this.
What goes on the label
Utah desires patients to be aware of the specifics of their purchases. The label needs to include:
The product name and type. The processing or cultivator license number. The batch number and the date of manufacturing. The expiration date.
You should also include every ingredient and possible allergen. When it is nutty or dairy-based, then that must be on there.
And the font size matters. Utah needs some information to be within a minimum point, just so that people can be able to read it with the naked eye rather than a magnifying glass.
The mandatory warning statements
This part is non-negotiable. Utah needs to have particular warning wording on each package. It covers things like:
This product should only be used medically. Keep out of reach of children. It can affect driving or machine skills. It might be hazardous to health during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
The warnings must be in some typeface and size. Part of them should be contrasting to be conspicuous.
Do not attempt to be ingenious with these. Are the words the state uses?
None of those packages that look good on kids
This is a big one. Utah prohibits child-perpetrated packaging in particular.
That is to say, no cartoon characters. None of the clear, glowing designs that resemble candy wrapper. Nothing that might be mistaken for an ordinary snack or toy.
When a child looks at your package and believes that they want it, then you will face a problem.
This applies to shapes, too. The gummy bear is likely to be alright since it is a typical food type. However, when you create a product in the shape of a cartoon character, you are just asking to get in trouble.
Lot numbers and testing
The package must contain a lot number on every batch. This relates to the results of testing.
Utah would dictate testing of potency, pesticides, mold, heavy metals, and all the conventional stuff. In case of any error, the lot number will allow the state to trace it to the origin.
Ensure that your packaging procedure has a means by which the lot numbers are printed on the individual package. And don’t run out of numbers. Have a system that monitors all of this.
The packaging should be tamper-evident
This is quite normal; Utah has it strictly. The package must have visible indications on whether it was opened by someone before the purchase.
Tamper-evident seals, shrink bands, break-away caps. A mark that will indicate whether the product has been tampered with.
In case the seal is broken or absent, such a dispensary should not be provided by the dispensary, and patients should not purchase it.
One more thing about opacity
I said this in a previous place, but it is worth repeating. Utah wants opaque packaging.
The reasoning is not very complex. Unless the kids are able to visualize the product, there are lower chances of them being interested in the product. And it holds the quality of the product higher as cannabis decays with time.
Others attempt to evade this by using colored glass that still allows the passage of light. That probably won’t work. And when you can see through the package and identify the shape of the flower or the color of the oil, it is not opaque enough.
Keeping it simple
Compliance, look, can be like a headache. However, there is a reason why the rules are there. The program of Utah is patient safety-centered, and the rules of packaging are a mirror of it.
It is even better that once you manage to get compliant packaging figured out, it is done. The same designs and materials can be repeated and reused as long as the rules do not vary.
All you need to do is ensure that you are dealing with printers and suppliers who are aware of the particular needs of the State of Utah. You should not think that an idea that has been successful in a different state will work here.
Do it right the first time, and you will have nothing to fear about the recall of the product, the refusal to receive the product, or even the police pursuing you on the grounds of the violation.
And honestly? The additional attention to detail is justifying that peace of mind.