A new study has found few consumers understand the THC labels on edible cannabis products.
According to research carried out by researchers from the University of Waterloo, Canada, on 1,000 Canadians aged between 16 and 30-years-old, most customers could not identify whether a cannabis edible contained high or low THC levels.
“Using THC numbers to express potency of cannabis products has little or no meaning to most young Canadians,” said David Hammond from Waterloo’s School of Public Health and Health Systems.
“We’ve known for many years that people struggle to understand the numbers of the back of food packages and cigarette packages.
“Consumers seem to have equal or even more difficulty with THC numbers, which are used to indicate the potency of cannabis products.”
Descriptive information, such as symbols and words, were found to be more easily understood by consumers.
The study also revealed that a ‘traffic light’ system, to indicate concentration, allowed two-thirds of respondents to identify products with high levels.
Hammond suggested better labelling could reduce confusion.
“Effective THC labelling and packaging could help reduces accidental over-consumption of cannabis edibles and adverse events, which have increased in jurisdictions that have legalised recreational cannabis,” he added.
