Cannabis as a commodified industry has definitely outgrown its dime-bag days, we’ve long said goodbye to weed handed off in a plastic baggie or swaddled in saran wrap. Legalized states have mandated regulations on protective packaging to enforce child resistance (CR), accessibility for those with dexterity limitations and, most importantly, preservation of the cannabis product inside.
When I was growing up, as many of you I’m sure, I would never have guessed that cannabis would be legalized. Back then it was taboo, worse than alcohol and seen as another drug on the streets. Remember the commercial, “This is your brain on drugs,” with the eggs frying in a pan?
With each passing year, the legalized cannabis industry grows as the stigma associated with it decreases. Ten states currently permit recreational marijuana, over 20 more permit medicinal use, and annual nationwide spending on legal cannabis is projected to reach nearly $50 billion in the next decade.
Some buyers are complaining the bulky packaging for newly legalized cannabis is environmentally unfriendly, but producers say government guidelines are to blame.