
Changing federal government regulations are forcing licensed producers to roll out new packaging for medical cannabis products by April 17.
Current medical packaging has labels that state the patient’s information and their daily prescribed cannabis limit. LPs can also include images and large company names.
While new regulations will streamline labelling requirements, LPs will be forced to remove all branded images from medical products—replacing images with large yellow health warnings and the standardized cannabis symbol (THC). Patient and physician information will also be removed. The new medical packaging regulations appear identical to recreational products.
Some producers are taking the opportunity to streamline their medical and recreational brands, making the products indistinguishable from each other. Others are concerned about brand recognition and product differentiation, challenges already experienced in the recreational cannabis market.
Despite advertising restrictions, non-medical cannabis retailers and brands are finding creative ways to market products—from simplifying the purchasing journey by colour-coding products, to leveraging technology to better understand their target customer.