An incident took place in my neighbourhood a few weeks ago that nearly cost a young boy his life, writes columnist Lael Bethlehem in Business day.

‘The boy was given a packet of sweets by an adult who did not realise they were cannabis-infused gummies. The boy ate half the packet and ended up in hospital for several days, lucky to escape without major damage. Had he not had access to an emergency room, he may have died,’ Bethlehem notes.

She explains she had a good look at the packaging in which the gummies were sold. The packet displays colourful, cartoon-like graphics and says it contains ‘infused sour worms’.

Bethlehem adds there is little to indicate to a child that this is a drug rather than a sweet, and many adults would also struggle to tell the difference.

‘The package includes a small warning that the product is for people aged 18 and over, but this is written in indistinct white text in an otherwise colourful display. There is also a label reading “60mg”, without saying which substance this applies to or whether it refers to a single sweet or the packet as a whole,’ she explains.

Bethlehem notes she has since looked at various other bags of cannabis gummies and seen a similar pattern.

‘They are designed to look like food, the word “cannabis” is generally not used, and the warnings are far less prominent than those on a cigarette box. These products are easily available online and from kiosks in many shopping centres, although many of them contain levels of cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that are well over the legal limit,’ she warns.

Bethlehem notes the sale of cannabis used to be regulated to the point of criminality.

A 2018 Constitutional Court decision changed this by allowing adults to possess and use cannabis privately.

‘This is a welcome relaxation of a previously draconian approach. But the court did not legalise the sale of cannabis or cannabis-infused products,’ she explains.

Bethlehem notes in the eight years that have passed since then, government has been unable to produce a regulatory framework that governs the production and sale of cannabis products.

‘Manufacturers and sellers of CBD products have stepped into the breach to such an extent that these products are now widely available,’ she observes.

Bethlehem notes the only clear rules governing the sale of edible cannabis products come from the Medicines and Related Substances Act, which regulates complementary health products.

‘These rules were not specifically designed to regulate edibles such as gummies. The regulations provide that complementary health products may be sold if they contain no more than 600mg of CBD per package, with a clearly stated recommended daily dose of no more than 20mg,’ she explains in Business Day.

In addition, the product may not contain more than a trace amount of THC. 

‘A gummy can only rely on these provisions as a basis for legality if it is formulated, labelled and sold as a complementary medicine rather than as a packet of sweets,’ she adds.

Bethlehem notes that because these regulations were not designed to regulate edibles, they do not set standards for packaging and labelling, or create a requirement for prominent warnings or content disclosures.

‘They are neither regulated as medicines nor as food. They seem to exist in a legal lacuna,’ she observes.

Bethlehem calls on the Department of Health to address this urgently by publishing clear and specific regulations that set limits on CBD content, indicate age parameters and require clear content information.

‘Most importantly, they should prevent manufacturers from dressing up their products as sweets that may fall into the hands of unsuspecting children,’ she concludes.

Full Business Day analysis