Despite the prevailing status of cannabis as a federally illegal Schedule I drug, the emerging market continues to take shape in the U.S. Now, a new nationwide study is providing more insight around consumer perceptions of cannabis product safety and regulations, finding that there is a widely-held and inaccurate assumption that cannabis products have the same basic protections existing for food, pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the country.
The study was commissioned by SICPA and conducted online by The Harris Poll, with more than 2,000 adults, ultimately finding that consumers want more information regarding cannabis product source, testing and safety considerations, ideally with verifiable certificates.
It shines light on a number of consumer insights. According to the study results, 58% of respondents said they were overwhelmed by the amount of cannabis product choices, 77% would rather buy cannabis product developed with organic principles, 78% said it’s important to be able to validate whether or not a cannabis product had been recalled and 63% supported buying products from more historically disadvantaged groups.
The study also dives into specific topics regarding cannabis product regulation in the U.S. and how respondents viewed each issue:
Nearly three-quarters of surveyed Americans (72%) and 80% of American cannabis consumers believe cannabis products are grown and produced under consistent product safety standards, even if the products were legally purchased in different states. More than four in five Americans overall, or 81%, and 84% of cannabis consumers said no matter where they are located, businesses licensed to grow and produce cannabis should be required to consistently meet environmental standards.
And more than three-quarters of Americans overall (77%) and 81% of cannabis consumers believe cannabis employers should be held to the same health and safety standards for their workers, just as every other comparable industry is.
The poll also looked at Americans’ sentiments around establishing federal government standards for cannabis products. Both 84% of Americans overall and 84% of cannabis consumers said they support setting federal standards for product safety and quality for cannabis products produced and sold in the United States.
Eighty-three percent of Americans overall and 83% of cannabis consumers also said they support the federal government setting standards for environmental protections that the U.S. cannabis industry must abide by.
SICPA Chief Marketing Officer Karen Gardner said in a news release that these results indicate that Americans overall are “wholly misinformed” about the lack of basic safety and quality protections for cannabis products across a number of states.
“Even cannabis consumers themselves aren’t aware that in states where products are legal, there are no uniform standards, leaving lots of room for unsafe, poor-quality products on the market,” Gardner said.
Lezli Engelking, president and founder of FOCUS, said that the U.S. has a number of consumer protection laws and organizations, both at federal and state levels, that regulate consumer affairs, so it’s “understandable” that Americans expect these same protections in cannabis. FOCUS was founded in 2014 to combat this lack of consumer protections, a nonprofit with a cannabis-specific focus to protect public health, consumer safety and the environment within the industry.
“Unfortunately, as these and other findings continue to show, nothing could be further from the truth. Americans want safe, reliable, and quality cannabis products. The lack of protections for cannabis consumers, is simply one more example of the extreme risks to public health and safety Americans are exposed to given the lack of action around cannabis at the federal level,” Engelking said.
The poll additionally asked respondents about decriminalization or legalization of cannabis products, with nearly three in four (74%) of Americans overall and 79% of cannabis consumers saying they are in favor of decriminalization. The numbers increased when respondents were asked about legalization: 78% of Americans overall and 86% of cannabis consumers said they support national cannabis legalization.
This is the third SICPA-The Harris Poll survey in a series of polls on cannabis. The second survey, released in February, took a deeper look at the products cannabis consumers use. The first poll, released in fall of 2021, showed broad support among respondents for the secure labeling of cannabis products to verify their legitimacy and safety.
