Switzerland: CBD Products Should Not Look like Candy

By MICHAEL KNODT
Source: marijuana.com

Newly emerging in Switzerland, opponents of cannabis reform are up in arms about the colorful packaging of CBD products, which they claim entices both children and adolescents to consume cannabis. However, the main point of contention for Swiss lawmakers is not THC-infused edibles and their possible confusion with non-medicated goods. The sticking point for anti-legalization advocates is attractively colored CBD-cigarette packs sold exclusively for adults.

At the end of 2016, the first tobacco substitute comprised of CBD-rich hemp was approved in Switzerland. Currently more than 400 vendors competing in the open market must come up with alternative sales strategies for the 20-piece packages of CBD-rich hemp spliffs.
The company Pure Production decided to let its adult customers decide on the future design of its packaging and ultimately landed on a grinning dwarf for the CBD-White Widow Afghan package, while the CBD-Chronic packaging will be emblazoned with a colorful unicorn.

The vibrant artwork alarmed the Swiss Foundation for Addiction.

“That presentation of CBD products can be attractive to children. This is very awkward,” said media spokesman Markus Meury in Swiss press reports.

Pure Production is not the only manufacturer to advertise CBD joints this way.

Other manufacturers use similar strategies to convey the specialty flavors of their CBD-spliffs. Critics perceive not only the cigarettes, but the entire business model, as a threat. In May, the company opened a CBD-hemp farm with 26,500 plants on 23,000 square meters. At the opening, hemp sausages sizzled on the BBQ while children romped on the playground or the bouncy castle in the official “Kids’ Zone.” The Foundation for Addiction protested that a “Kids Zone” on the company’s hemp adventure-farm is “ethically quite wrong,” even though they were operating within the law.

The company, which has come under criticism, emphasizes that all products are checked and approved by the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) and are only accessible to adults. In light of the recent accusations, 35-year-old CEO Stevens Senn remains serene.

“We also like to take this criticism as input for our products, in a market that is subject to rapid and constant change,” the cannabis farmer from the canton of Aargau told the local press.