Colorado Pot Shops Now Offering Milder Alternatives For Beginners

Call it the Rookie Cookie: Legal pot shops in Colorado and Washington are selling snacks and treats – known as “edibles” in the industry – that have much lower doses of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. These products are aimed at novice pot users who may not be ready for the full-power high that most edibles offer.

Since legalization, pot shops in Colorado in Washington have taken the “If It’s Worth Doing, It’s Worth Overdoing” approach, selling high-potency strains that pack a punch for people who want to get really high — cancer patients, for example, or just run-of-the-mill stoners. The THC from those strains has made it into popular edibles, and therein lies the problem.

With edibles, there are too many variables; how much THC went into this Rice Krispie treat, and what’s the right amount to eat? Should I eat the whole pot granola bar, or just a couple of bites? Colorado pot regulators realized early on that they were going to have a problem regulating edibles. In the early days of legalization, several people reported eating too much of an edible and winding up having experiences that can most charitably be described as “unpleasant.” Of particular note was journalist Maureen Dowd who, according to this Inquisitr report, ate way too much “reefer candy” and promptly had a paranoid freak-out.

New labeling and warning guidelines have helped, somewhat. For example, a bar of Cali Gold OG Kush contains the warning: “Eat only 1/2 a square, and wait one and a half hours before consuming another one.”

But even so, these regular edibles don’t address the problem of users who may be new to marijuana. These people might want to give it a try, but don’t want to be blazed out of their minds, or even worse, having a paranoid freak-out. Enter the milder edibles.

According to Reason, pot makers started noticing the market for milder edibles as recently as 2013. And now, pot shops are starting to fill that niche market. For example, in Colorado you can now buy the Dixie One watermelon cream soda, which contains 5 milligrams of THC — half of what Colorado considers one serving size, or about one fifteenth of what more popular sodas contain.

According to ABC News, this change in marketing strategy is the equivalent of putting wine coolers and light beers on the same shelves as hard liquor such as vodka and whiskey.

Would you be willing to give pot a try if you could get a milder edible designed for beginners? Let us know below.

[Images courtesy of: THC Finder, Weed Maps]