CDC Marijuana Warning: More Reefer Madness Or Legit Alarm?

Consumer education and protection is paramount if the state-legal cannabis industry is going to minimize overconsumption.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just issued a report regarding marijuana “safety,” focusing mostly on the “dangers” of “overconsumption.” The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report frets about the “potential danger associated with recreational edible marijuana use” based on an alleged marijuana-related death. Though we can debate whether this CDC report is a serious warning or just more reefer madness, unfortunate incidents like this require the marijuana industry to formulate a mature response and to initiate systems to mitigate future problems.

The CDC report zeroes in on a Colorado death in 2014 in which marijuana may have been the “chief contributing factor.” That case involved 19-year-old Levy Thamba, who jumped to his death from a balcony after consuming “an edible marijuana product.” Allegedly, Thamba’s friend purchased marijuana cookies from a state-licensed marijuana retailer and gave one of those cookies to Thamba.

At the point of sale, the sales clerk reportedly made clear to Thamba’s friend that the entire cookie should not be consumed at once, but to divide it “into sixths, each piece containing approximately 10 mg of THC …. and to ingest one serving at a time.” It is not known if the sales clerk also provided specific instructions for how long to wait between servings or whether any written instructions were also provided, but it appears that the cookie itself had usage instructions on its label.

The police report maintains that Thamba “ate only a single piece of his cookie, as directed by the sales clerk.” But not feeling any effects 30-60 minutes later, Thamba then ate the remainder of the cookie:

During the next 2 hours, [Thamba] reportedly exhibited erratic speech and hostile behaviors. Approximately 3.5 hours after initial ingestion, and 2.5 hours after consuming the remainder of the cookie, he jumped off a fourth floor balcony and died from trauma. The autopsy, performed 29 hours after time of death, found marijuana intoxication as a chief contributing factor. This was the first reported death in Colorado linked to marijuana consumption without evidence of polysubstance use since the state approved recreational use of marijuana in 2012.

The CDC pointedly notes in its report that, “[a]lthough [Thamba] was advised against eating multiple servings at one time, he reportedly consumed all five of the remaining servings of the THC-infused cookie within 30–60 minutes after the first serving, suggesting a need for improved public health messaging to reduce the risk for overconsumption of THC.”

Many have been asking how fair it is to blame cannabis for Thamba’s unfortunate death, especially when there is no meaningful evidence indicating cannabis leads to psychotic behavior. Nonetheless, the message to the cannabis industry should be clear. Though state regulations may set the floor for consumer protection, cannabis entrepreneurs need to go above and beyond that floor to ensure that their own consumers are educated about cannabis and its effects. This means, for example, providing written materials, including brochures, to consumers and ensuring clear and comprehensive packaging and labeling that describes what consumers should and should not do with their purchases. With multi-dose products like edibles, consumer education and protection is paramount if the state-legal cannabis industry is going to minimize overconsumption and reduce the chance that litigants and the media will point their fingers at the industry after similarly tragic events.

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Hilary Bricken is an attorney at Harris Moure, PLLC in Seattle and she chairs the firm’s Canna Law Group. Her practice consists of representing marijuana businesses of all sizes in multiple states on matters relating to licensing, corporate formation and contracts, commercial litigation, and intellectual property. Named one of the 100 most influential people in the cannabis industry in 2014, Hilary is also lead editor of the Canna Law Blog. You can reach her by email at hilary@harrismoure.com.

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