Cannabis Packaging Rules May Miss What Teens Notice

As legal cannabis markets continue to grow, regulators have spent years creating packaging rules intended to keep products away from children and reduce youth appeal. Cartoon characters have been banned in many jurisdictions, warning labels have become mandatory, and child-resistant packaging has become standard practice.

However, a 2026 study suggests regulators may be focusing on the wrong things. Research¹ published in the International Journal of Drug Policy found that legal cannabis edible packaging can still appear appealing to underage audiences even when it complies with existing regulations. The findings raise an important question: Are cannabis packaging rules addressing what teenagers actually notice, or are they simply checking boxes for compliance?

The study suggests there may be a significant difference between what regulators consider acceptable and what young people find attractive, and as cannabis legalization expands, that distinction could become increasingly important. Let’s dive into the study and what the industry can do moving forward.

What The Study Found

Researchers surveyed 149 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 and 305 young adults between the ages of 18 and 20 in Washington State. Participants reviewed photographs of legal cannabis-infused food and beverage products and identified elements they believed would appeal to minors. The goal was not to determine whether products violated regulations. Instead, researchers wanted to understand how younger audiences perceive cannabis packaging and what visual elements naturally draw their attention.

The results revealed consistent patterns. Across multiple edible product categories, participants frequently identified colorful fonts, playful imagery, flavor descriptions, and product photos resembling familiar snacks and candies as appealing to people under the age of 21. Researchers also used a method that tracks visual attention, revealing concentrated attention on branding elements that mimicked traditional snack food packaging in particular.

Source: Hust et al., 2026. Participants reviewed legal cannabis-infused edible packaging and indicated whether each product would appeal to individuals under age 21. The study sample included 149 teens aged 13–17 and 305 young adults aged 18–20 in Washington State.

Importantly, many of these products were legally compliant. They followed existing packaging rules, yet younger audiences still perceived aspects of the packaging as appealing. That finding highlights a potential blind spot in current cannabis regulations.

Why Visual Design Matters

Packaging is often viewed as a compliance issue, but it is also one of the most powerful forms of marketing. Consumers frequently interact with a package before they ever read a warning label, ingredient list, or dosage information. Colors, logos, imagery, fonts, and branding all influence perception within seconds.

However, the problem remains that this is especially true for younger audiences. Research across multiple industries has repeatedly shown that children and teenagers respond strongly to visual cues. Bright colors, recognizable food imagery, dessert-inspired graphics, and familiar branding styles can create positive associations long before a person processes written information.

The Washington study suggests that many cannabis products contain visual features that resonate with younger audiences even when they meet regulatory requirements. That does not necessarily mean companies are intentionally targeting minors. It does suggest, however, that current regulations may not fully account for how teens perceive product packaging.

Compliance And Responsibility Are Different

One of the most important lessons from this research is that legal compliance and responsible marketing are not always the same thing. A package can meet every requirement on the books and still create concerns. Current regulations often focus on obvious violations such as cartoon characters, false health claims, or missing warning labels. Those rules are important, but they may not address the more subtle design choices that attract attention from younger audiences.

This creates a challenge for regulators.

Creating objective standards around colors, imagery, branding styles, and product presentation is far more difficult than banning specific graphics. Yet if the goal is reducing youth appeal, those conversations may become increasingly necessary. The study’s authors suggest policymakers should consider how visual design elements influence underage audiences and even incorporate feedback from teens when evaluating packaging standards, as understanding what young people actually notice may provide more valuable insights than relying solely on adult assumptions.

The Industry Must Do Better

The cannabis industry stands at a crossroads. Every decision made today helps shape what this industry will look like ten, twenty, or even fifty years from now. We are not simply selling products. We are building an industry that was born from decades of advocacy, patient activism, scientific research, and hard-fought policy reform. The actions we take today will become part of that history.

That is why packaging matters.

Personally, I have walked through dispensaries and cannabis expos across the country and seen THC products packaged in ways that closely resemble popular cereals, cookies, candies, and snack foods. Some may technically comply with existing regulations, but that does not mean they reflect the level of responsibility this industry should be striving for.

The question should never be, “Can we get away with this design?” The question should be, “Is this the standard we want to set?”

We know children are naturally drawn to familiar colors, playful graphics, and packaging that resembles products they already recognize. We also know accidental exposures continue to be one of the most sensitive issues facing the cannabis industry. When products begin to blur the line between cannabis edibles and everyday snacks, we create unnecessary risks that damage public trust and provide ammunition for critics who believe legalization was a mistake.

The truth is that great cannabis products do not need to look like children’s snacks to succeed. Quality, consistency, safety, and product performance is why consumers return, not because the package reminds them of a box of cereal they ate as a child.

Unfortunately, too many companies continue to treat packaging concerns as someone else’s problem. They wait for regulators to act rather than taking responsibility themselves. Every time regulators are forced to spend resources investigating packaging disputes, drafting new restrictions, or enforcing preventable violations, valuable research dollars, taxpayer money, and agency resources are diverted away from more important priorities such as product safety, consumer education, testing standards, and public health research.

The industry has an opportunity to lead instead of being led.

Responsible companies should be setting the bar higher than the minimum legal requirement. They should be asking whether their packaging supports the long-term credibility of cannabis, not simply whether it passes inspection. If cannabis businesses want a seat at the table when future policies are written, they must demonstrate that they are capable of self-regulation and responsible stewardship. Waiting until lawmakers are forced to intervene is not leadership. It is surrendering control of the conversation.

We are writing the history of this industry right now. Future generations will look back on this era and judge whether cannabis operators built a mature, responsible marketplace or repeated the mistakes seen in other industries. The choice belongs to today’s businesses. The industry can set the standard, or regulators will eventually set it for them.

Better Packaging Benefits Everyone

Stronger packaging standards do not mean eliminating branding or limiting creativity. Cannabis companies can still build memorable brands while avoiding unnecessary similarities to products commonly marketed to children. Responsible packaging and successful marketing are not mutually exclusive goals.

In fact, clearer standards could benefit the industry in several ways. They could reduce accidental exposures, improve consumer trust, strengthen public confidence in legalization, and decrease the need for costly enforcement actions. Most importantly, they could help demonstrate that the cannabis industry is capable of acting responsibly without requiring constant regulatory intervention.

Looking Beyond The Label

The Washington study offers an important reminder that protecting youth involves more than warning labels and compliance checklists. The visual design of a package matters, imagery matters, and branding matters. As cannabis markets continue to mature, conversations about packaging will likely move beyond what products explicitly say and focus more on what they visually communicate.

The research suggests that colorful branding, snack-inspired imagery, flavor-focused marketing, and familiar packaging designs continue to capture the attention of younger audiences, even when products comply with existing regulations. For regulators, that raises important questions about whether current rules are keeping pace with modern marketing practices. And for the cannabis industry, it presents an opportunity. Companies can either wait for lawmakers to impose stricter standards, or they can take the lead and demonstrate that responsible packaging is simply part of building a mature industry. Because in the end, the future of cannabis will not be defined by the packages that sell the most products today. It will be defined by the standards the industry chooses to uphold for generations to come.

References:

^{1. Stacey J.T. Hust, Jessica Fitts Willoughby, Ron Price, Opeyemi Victoria Johnson, Leticia Couto, CJ Janssen, Bailey Maykovich, Sarah Ross-Viles, Sarah Okey, Not just a label: Teens’ perceptions of what elements of cannabis product packaging appeal to underage individuals, International Journal of Drug Policy, Volume 155, 2026, 105355, ISSN 0955-3959, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2026.105355}