OTTAWA — Legal marijuana will be sold in plain packages emblazoned with a yellow health warning and a red stop sign stamped with the silhouette of a pot leaf, according to draft regulations released Monday by Health Canada.
The proposed rules will allow for packaging to depict a single brand element beyond a company’s name — either a logo or a slogan — but which may not contain any metallic or fluorescent colours and must be smaller than the stop sign symbol.
The stringent restrictions around marijuana packaging and labelling are contained in a report from Health Canada summarizing the results of a 60-day public feedback process the department began last November around its original regulatory suggestions.
GovCanHealth✔@GovCanHealth
The #HealthCanada report on the results from our consultation on the proposed approach to regulating #cannabis in Canada is now available: http://ow.ly/61wX30j2c6r
The consultation received more than 3,200 online submissions and 450 written responses, in addition to input from health and law enforcement experts, governments, patient advocates and marijuana industry representatives.
The government’s focus remains reducing the appeal of pot among youth, preventing accidental consumption and informing consumers about the health risks of marijuana, Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said.
“The red stop sign — it’s an alarmist type of sign and people are going to recognize that they have to be aware that there is cannabis inside this product,” Petitpas Taylor said Monday.
“It’s also a sign and a symbol that children and adults can identify. It’s been tested through focus groups.”
