Sea Witch-brand products inside a display case at Mother Earth Wellness in Pawtucket. Edibles are in small jars, drinks in bottles similar to beer, and THC tea is packaged inside a sealed black bag. (Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
Drive along the highway and you’ll see plenty of big, attention-grabbing billboards with bright colors advertising Rhode Island’s few licensed cannabis retailers. But go inside one of those stores and you’ll be met with a sea of neutral colors: White, gray or black. Occasionally, there’s navy blue.
Those neutral colors are by design, mostly to ensure products are not attractive to children who might accidentally ingest them. But state regulators may allow for some color in the future as the Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission ponders changes to its packaging regulations.
Commissioners were presented with the idea during their July 30 meeting , where the three-member panel decided to add the language to its ongoing draft regulations that will govern the state’s fledgling cannabis sector. Other proposals include placing the name of the lab that tested the cannabis, the use of a QR code (with commission approval), and a list of cannabinoids that make up the product.