Doctors push for warning label on California pot, sound alarm about cannabis-induced psychosis

Doctors in California are pushing to include warnings about health risks on cannabis packaging akin to requirements on cigarette makers.

They want sellers to outline risks to youth, drivers and pregnant women, especially if they are first-time users and consuming products with a high concentration of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

“Today’s turbocharged products are turbocharging the harms associated with cannabis,” Dr. Lynn Silver, with the Public Health Institute, a nonprofit, told National Public Radio.

NPR reports that emergency visits for cannabis-induced psychosis went up by 50% within three years of California legalizing pot in 2016.

Doctors say cannabis can also make things worse for persons with underlying psychosis problems.

Lawmakers are considering warnings, similar to ones used in Canada, that use a bright yellow background and black 12-point font. The warning takes up a third of the front of the package.

Opponents of the push told NPR that consumers already must be 21 years old to buy so the warnings are expensive and excessive on top of existing regulations and taxes. They want the state to crack down on the illicit pot market instead.