Pubdate: Sat, 11 Jun 2016
Source: Mail Tribune, The (Medford, OR)
Copyright: 2016 The Mail Tribune
Contact:  http://www.mailtribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/642
Note: Only prints LTEs from within it's circulation area, 200 word count limit
Note: By Albany Democrat-Herald

TAKE IT SLOW ON EDIBLE MARIJUANA

We've reached another green-letter day in the state of Oregon's 
continuing experiment with legalizing recreational marijuana: 
Beginning Thursday, edible pot products are available for retail sale 
in registered medical marijuana dispensaries across the state.

Not in Linn County, though: At this writing, no medical marijuana 
dispensary in the county legally can sell recreational marijuana, and 
that includes edibles intended for recreational users. Local 
governments throughout the county (including Linn County) have barred 
medical dispensaries from selling recreational pot. Voters in each of 
those jurisdictions will get a chance in November to decide the fate 
of those restrictions.

But these edibles potentially are troublesome enough that we don't 
mind letting other counties take the lead. Washington and Colorado, 
two states ahead of Oregon in legalizing marijuana, have had 
experiences with people (and, in some cases, children) ingesting much 
more tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in 
marijuana) than they had intended. Sometimes, the results are 
hilarious. Sometimes, they're deadly serious, especially with 
children. Marijuana can make children very sick, as the state 
reminded us this week.

All of that helps to explain why Oregon regulators have been careful 
as they develop and roll out the state's standards for edibles. But 
those standards aren't yet completely in place: For example, the 
state intends to cap individual edible products at 5 milligrams of 
THC each; that's half of what's allowed in Colorado and Washington, 
and this is a case where it's best to err on the side of caution.

But that 5-milligram limit doesn't apply to the state's medical 
marijuana dispensaries that are participating in early sales of 
recreational pot; those stores can sell edibles with up to 15 
milligrams of THC. Folks who are curious about these early edibles 
will want to pay particular attention to the label: All edible retail 
marijuana products in Oregon must have a clear THC serving size 
indicated on them.

Pay attention to serving size as well: A package such as a chocolate 
bar or a cookie may not be intended just for consumption by a single 
person and can contain as many as 50 milligrams of THC total. So what 
appears to be a single-serving chocolate bar could in fact be 
intended as 10 single servings.

That's why even the people who are hoping to carve out a market niche 
with pot edibles are urging adult consumers to go slow at first. 
Here's an important thing to remember as you pry open the lid on that 
tub of pot rocky road: Edible marijuana doesn't affect the system as 
quickly as smoked marijuana. So people gobble down a chocolate bar or 
brownie and don't immediately feel the effect. So they gobble down 
another edible or two. Then the pot kicks in. The results aren't 
always pretty. The advice from experts is to wait at least 90 minutes 
and up to four hours before consuming more edibles.

And, if you have children, consider following this additional advice 
from the Oregon Health Authority: Keep all your marijuana products in 
a locked area that your children cannot see or reach. If your child 
eats or drinks marijuana edibles, call the Poison Center Hotline at 
1-800-222-1222. If symptoms seem bad, call 911 or go to the emergency 
room. Symptoms can include your child having trouble walking or 
sitting up, starting to be sleepy or having a hard time breathing.

Here's a case where Linn County residents might well learn something 
by carefully monitoring the experiences elsewhere. And that could be 
valuable information as the elections on pot restrictions draw closer.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom