DENVER (AP) - Saying they're still worried that edible pot sweets are too attractive to kids, Colorado health authorities plan to ask Monday for a new panel to decide which marijuana foods and drinks look too much like regular snacks.
A Health Department recommendation, obtained by The Associated Press in advance of a final meeting Monday on edible marijuana regulations, suggests a new state commission to give "pre-market approval" before food or drinks containing pot can be sold.
The recommendation comes a month after the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment suggested banning the sale of most kinds of edible pot. That suggestion was quickly retracted after it went public.
Marijuana-infused foods and drinks have been a booming sector in Colorado's new recreational marijuana market. But lawmakers feared the products are too easy to confuse with regular foods and drinks and ordered marijuana regulators to require a new look for marijuana edibles.
The new Health Department suggestion calls for a commission to decide which types of foods can be sold.
"The department remains concerned that there are products on the market that so closely resemble children's candy that it can entice children to experiment with marijuana. Marijuana should not seem "fun' for kids," the agency wrote in its recommendation.
The ultimate decision on how to change Colorado's edibles market will be made by state lawmakers in 2015.
The state's Marijuana Enforcement Division is holding workgroups with industry representatives, law enforcement, health officials and parent groups to come up with a group recommendation to lawmakers on the question. The final workgroup meets Monday.