Giglio Calls for Further Scrutiny on THC-Infused Product Packaging

With the consumption of marijuana now legal in New York, local officials are pushing to make sure edible products come with child-proof packaging and are clearly labeled as containing the psychoactive drug.

“With the legalization of marijuana and THC in New York, we’ve been slow to properly legislate protections on packaging to keep our kids safe,” said Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio, sponsor of a bill along with Senator Dean Murray calling for better control of packaging. The legislation was spurred by stories of children mistaking the edible drug for regular candies and snack foods and needing medical attention, Giglio, a parent herself and advocate of child safety, noted.

The assemblywoman headlined a rally of Republican legislators in Albany to rally support for the safety measures. “My bill would make it a Class D Felony to advertise, deceptively advertise, brand, market, package, display, label, offer for ingestion outside of packaging, or administer cannabis products, including unconventional methods of administration or ingestion or edible consumption of cannabis products, in contravention of section 81 of the cannabis laws or rules and regulations promulgated by the New York State Cannabis Control Board or Office Of Cannabis Management,” Giglio explained. “We cannot tolerate the misrepresentation of THC products any longer. It’s having dire, real-world impacts on the children in our community, and it is the responsibility of the Legislature to ensure any THC edible on the market is properly marked and packaged as such,” she said.

Voting against the state’s legalization of cannabis was Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano, a four-decade emergency responder and retired Suffolk Sheriff dispatcher. “Now that marijuana is legal, we have to make sure it’s doesn’t accidentally poison our kids,” DeStefano said. “As we have seen with vapes and tobacco products, there’s an inclination by manufacturers to market to children. Because of the toxicity of these products, the legislature must enact measures to help keep kids safe.”

Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio (R,C-Riverhead), right of poster, and Sen. Dean Murray (R,C-3rd Senate District), left of poster, lead press conference calling for more conspicuous and secure THC-infused product packaging.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an estimated 8.3% of 8th graders, 19.5% of 10th graders, and 30.7% of 12th graders reported using cannabis/hashish in 2022. Overall, there had been about 28 million marijuana users in 2012. This increased to 47 million in 2020. By the end of 2022, 52 million Americans will now have consumed cannabis and if the trend continues, the number of people who use marijuana will increase to 71 million by 2030.

“Usage is skyrocketing and this stuff is everywhere,” Giglio said. “We need to be real careful about how we’re going to deal with this moving forward.”