Washington State Teens' Perceptions of Cannabis-Infused Product Packaging: A Qualitative Study

The use of recreational cannabis is becoming legal in more states across the United States. With that, many cannabis-infused products were developed, and regulation surrounding cannabis product packaging was created to ensure packaging was not especially appealing to young people. We conducted small group online focus groups and in-depth interviews with 28 Washington teens (13-17 years-old) about their perceptions of cannabis edible product packages, such as gummies and pretzels, and analyzed the data using thematic analysis. We found that many teens perceived cannabis packages to be appealing because of their aesthetics such as bright colors and the pictures on the package, as well as the lifestyles the products promoted. Additionally, we identified that teens with greater cannabis knowledge and product literacy were more skeptical of the cannabis product packages. Our findings have implications for health educators and policymakers. Efforts to include teen perspectives in the regulatory process could be beneficial, and prevention specialists may want to focus efforts on improving teens' cannabis knowledge and product literacy to empower them to be more critical of cannabis product packaging.