Researchers at UNC Health have been awarded a $2.9 million National Institute on Drug Abuse grant to study cannabis warning labels.
Required by most state laws, cannabis warning labels are oftentimes crammed onto packaging in tiny lettering and are notoriously lengthy, making them easy to ignore.
In Arizona, for example, the department of health services requires the following warning: Marijuana use can be addictive and can impair an individual’s ability to drive a motor vehicle or operate heavy machinery. Marijuana smoke contains carcinogens and can lead to an increased risk for cancer, tachycardia, hypertension, heart attack, and lung infection. Marijuana use may affect the health of a pregnant woman and the unborn child. Keep out of reach of children.”
While this is important information, researchers have wondered if the formatting hinders its efficacy. Which is why, head researchers Leah Rammey, a medical research professor at UNC and director of UNC’s Tobacco Prevention and Evaluation program, and Sarah Kowitt, a professor of family medicine at UNC, aim to create cannabis warnings that are informative and memorable.
“Our study aims to develop effective cannabis warnings that inform consumers about the potential risks of cannabis use,” Ranney said in a statement. “To accomplish this goal, we must identify which warning characteristics capture attention and are easily recalled.”
Although most states require cannabis warning labels, there is no federal requirement to do so, as cannabis is still illegal at a federal level; meaning that establishing a national protocol for warning labels is a difficult process. And paired with varying existing regulations across states, there is a lot for researchers to parse through.
“This study is the first of its kind on cannabis warnings,” Kowitt said in the statement.
“Throughout the five years of the grants, we will examine how states have implemented regulations on warnings for cannabis product packages, experimentally develop a set of evidence-based cannabis warnings, and examine whether larger evidence-based warnings outperform existing warnings on product packages. These findings will be very useful to state regulators who have been tasked with setting their own regulations for cannabis warnings, often without a rigorous evidence base.”
Cannabis legalization and use continues to expand across the country. According to Rammey, “The prevalence of cannabis use is higher in states with legalized cannabis and with increasing state legalization, the cannabis market is anticipated to grow, intensifying the need for effective evidenced-based warnings that grab the attention of cannabis consumers. The outcome of our research will help inform people about the potential harms of cannabis use.”
A more cohesive understanding on the risks of cannabis is necessary, especially in response to the evolving nature of the cannabis industry. Collectively, it seems that there is a lot of confusion regarding the risks of cannabis, and developing a refined approach to establishing warnings is essential.
