Colorado eyes edibles rules as more people eat pot

DENVER - Colorado's marijuana experiment is threatened by the popularity of eating it instead of smoking it, leading the pot industry to join health officials and state regulators to try to curb the problem of consumers ingesting too much weed.

A task force gathered Wednesday to start brainstorming ways to educate the public, including a standard warning system on popular edibles, which is the industry term for marijuana that has been concentrated and infused into food or drink.

One idea was to fashion labels on edible pot like the difficulty guidelines on ski slopes, a system familiar to Colorado residents. Weak marijuana products would have green dots, grading up to black diamonds for the most potent edibles.

Marijuana-infused foods are booming in the state's new recreational market.

Some choose edible pot because of health concerns about smoking the drug. Others are visitors who can't find a hotel that allows toking and are stymied by a law barring public outdoor pot smoking. Whether through inexperience or confusion, many are eating too much pot too quickly, with potentially deadly consequences.

A college student from Wyoming jumped to his death from a Denver hotel balcony last month after consuming six times the recommended dosage of a marijuana-infused cookie. And last month, a Denver man accused of shooting his wife reportedly ate pot-laced candy before the attack, though police say he may have had other drugs in his system.

The deaths have underscored a common complaint from new marijuana customers - they say they don't know how much pot to eat and then have unpleasant experiences when they ingest too much.

Colorado already limits THC - marijuana's intoxicating chemical - in edible pot products to 10mg per serving, with a maximum of 10 servings per package. Exact comparisons are tricky because marijuana varies widely in potency and quality, but 10mg of THC is considered roughly equivalent to the amount in a medium-sized joint.

Colorado authorities are scrambling to do more to rein in edibles. State lawmakers are considering legislation that would require edibles - the cookies and candies themselves, not just the wrappers - to be marked and colored to indicate they contain pot. Another bill would reduce possession limits on concentrated marijuana, such as cannabis oils used in brownies or cookies. Both bills have passed the House and await Senate hearings Thursday.