Craving cannabis carnival nuts? Head here
It's another milestone in the nation's ongoing experiment with legal, recreational marijuana.
A cannabis dispensary in the northwestern corner of Washington became the first retailer in the state to legally sell cannabis-infused edibles. Both Colorado and Washington State legalized "adult-use" cannabis for non-medical use earlier this year. Colorado's law has been in place since New Year's Day, but Washington didn't begin sales of recreational marijuana until last month.
Top Shelf, a retailer in Bellingham, put about 500 packages of edibles -- available in "trail mix," "party mix" or "crazy carnival nuts" -- on sale, and was planning to stay open late for its customers.
The store's co-owner, John Evich, told CBS affiliate KIRO-TV that the sale of edibles in Washington way delayed by an emergency order that would allow the state's liquor board to approve special packaging for cannabis edibles. The packaging is meant to discourage children from accidentaly ingesting the edible product. It also provides clear labeling that explains the amount of marijuana in each serving.
Regulators in Colorado recently tightened packaging laws on cannabis edibles sold in that state after numerous reports of consumers ending up in emergency rooms for eating too much of an edible product. At least one death in Colorado has also been linked to a person eating too much of a potent marijuana edible.
Evich says it's up to the customer to know how much marijuana is contained in an edible product.
"That would be like somebody drinking a beer compared to 16 ounces of tequila," he said. "It's all one's own responsibility -- it should be labeled, but at the same time, would you drink 16 ounces of tequila?"
Evich believes that, considering all the requests he's been getting from customers, at least half of his store's sales will eventually be made up of cannabis edible and oils.
At least 23 states, plus the District of Columbia, have legalized the sale of medical marijuana. Oregon and Alaska are expected to vote on whether or not to legalize recreational marijuana in their states during the November elections.