SACRAMENTO – Listing cannabis smoke and THC as “reproductive toxins” under the state's Proposition 65 has been approved by a state office.
The state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has approved the listings and in one year, all cannabis producers within the state will need to label their products with a Proposition 65 warning.
While Proposition 65 has already listed cannabis smoke as a carcinogen since 2009, THC is new to the list based on the OEHHA’s Science Advisory Board’s Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee’s December vote.
The committee concluded that both cannabis smoke and THC “have been shown to cause reproductive toxicity based on the developmental endpoint,” as the agency stated in its Jan. 3 policy announcement.
But regardless of the thousands of products that contain a Proposition 65 warning label, many pundits around the state have shunned the list for its overextending neglect of the initial law and have alleged that oversaturation has led to public disregard for products that may in fact pose a threat.
“We’re not chemists or medical professionals, so can’t say that weed is problematic," Will Swaim, president of California Policy Center (CPC), said. "But I can say that government regulators have so abused Prop 65 that the public is right to be skeptical about any chemical that makes the state’s dumb list. And that’s the problem with Prop 65: How is the public to know what’s truly dangerous and what’s pure, uncut regulatory insanity – or in this case, reefer madness?”
Cannabis products in the Golden State already carry the Proposition 65 carcinogen warning and now producers will have to amend their packaging within the next year to include the reproductive warnings. Additionally, the THC listing will see a grander spectrum of products don the warning – including vape products, edibles and topicals.
The OEHHA’s report is available to the public here.