Washington state moves to ban all marijuana gummies and hard candies

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board is in charge of regulations for the state's cannabis industry and their new ruling has some cannabis businesses upset and worried for their financial future. The board announced last week that starting in January it will no longer be legal to manufacture or sell hard candy, tarts, fruit chews, colorful chocolate, jelllies and any gummy product infused with cannabis. The move comes as they hope to limit any potential cannabis product that could be appealing to children. While everyone can agree that no child should ingest any cannabis products, only adults can purchase the product with a valid ID. Several businesses that sell primarily edibles will be heavily effected by this change including one particular store that recently bought special equipment to make some of these candies that are now prohibited. 

Several edibles producers and retail stores told The Seattle Times the move will devastate their businesses. Diana Isaiou, who owns such an edibles business, tells the Times that 60 percent of her business comes from previously approved fruit chews. She’d already purchased specialized equipment and packaging material to make such candy for the upcoming year, a loss that’s compounded by strict banking laws governing the marijuana industry: “We don’t get business loans in the marijuana industry,” Isaiou told the Times. “These are people’s personal bank rolls.”