An accident waiting to happen, and an invitation to overconsumption

Denver Post columnist Vincent Carroll purchased the ginger snap marijuana cookie from a marijuana shop in downtown Denver Thursday. He writes,

The cookie contains 100 milligrams of THC, or 10 times what the state designates as a single "serving" for a marijuana edible.

Levy Thamba, the college student who jumped to his death last month, ate a marijuana cookie with six times the recommended amount of THC. He awoke repeatedly in what his friends described as an incoherent state, eventually smashing furniture, according to a Denver Post story, before bolting over a railing and into a fatal fall.

It would be criminal to take my ginger cookie out of its package and leave it on a desk or kitchen counter where some unsuspecting friend might see it. Absent the wrapper, there is simply no way to know it is anything but a harmless treat.

Thamba's death and the arrest this week of Richard Kirk, who allegedly killed his wife in Denver after consuming the edible "Karma Kandy Orange Ginger," should add new urgency to rule-making.

Alcohol comes in unmistakable containers, not infused in baked goods and candy. No one confuses a bottle of beer with a cola.

Some people will always overindulge in their drug of choice. But they should do so by clear choice, not by mistake.

I voted for Amendment 64 and have defended its implementation from those who seek to chip away at its edges. I also know people with serious medical conditions who consider marijuana edibles a godsend.

But this ginger snap cookie on my desk makes me very uneasy. It's both an accident waiting to happen and an invitation to overconsumption.

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