Child-Resistant Canna Packaging That’s Attractive to Adults

 

The growth of the canna industry has brought with it the need for child-resistant canna packaging. It can be difficult to meet compliance needs and still make packaging attractive to adults.

Companies are being more innovative all the time in the way they achieve this balance. They are taking canna packaging to the next level of innovation and beauty.

 

Child-resistant canna packaging requirements

Regulations vary from state to state but most states require packaging to be:

• Opaque in appearance
• Resealable
• Clearly labeled
• Free from design elements that attract children (like cartoons or eye-catching graphics)

 

Canna Packaging design challenges

Companies may find it difficult to align their brand image with these regulations. There are also structural design limitations that are forcing brands to come up with innovative designs that not only meet the guidelines but maximize the structural, branding and print effects.

When designing child-compliant packaging, designers need to take into consideration that kids are reading earlier and are quick to start exploring.

At the same time, more people at the older end of the spectrum are using medical canna and may find it difficult to open containers. Making packaging that is difficult for kids to open and yet easy for seniors to open can be a challenge.

 

Design elements that can make a difference

Color: The way color is used on marijuana packaging can set a brand apart from its rivals and give an idea of the nature of the product. For example, green is associated with health and nature, while red is associated with passion and excitement.

Structural design: In order to capitalize on structural design, companies are experimenting with carton packaging which fulfills the requirement of opacity and can be resealed. The best packaging design is that which protects, promotes and differentiates products.

Print effects and finishes: Print effects and finishes can make all the difference when setting products apart. Popular print effects include embossing and debossing. Embossing is incorporating a raised, textural element that stands out from the paperboard material of the carton. Debossing creates a depressed imprint that offers a tactile experience. Both these processes can be used with various foil effects and other print finishing.

Interactive elements: Elements such as doors, tearaways and reveal flaps are some ways to add interactivity to package design and help increase engagement.

All of these elements can help to make packaging attractive as well as accommodate all the labeling requirements.

For example, companies are wrapping their canna flower and pre-rolled joints in new ways and using the packaging to tell a story about how the product will make the user feel. They are also making child-resistant packaging in the form of tins, tubes and sturdy exit bags with zip and stand-up features and even patenting their designs.

 

Edibles packaging

Custom weed bags in attractive designs stand out on dispensary shelves. Smell-proof child-resistant Mylar bags, for example, are perfect for selling edibles that stay potent and fresh. Edibles are one of the most important reasons for child-proof canna packaging because if kids know that a bag contains candy or chocolate, they will try their hardest to get inside.

Stand-up pouches use metallization or nylon to address barrier concerns such as light, moisture and smell. Many of them come with zippers that are certified child-resistant and they are very popular in the edibles market. They give products the feel of a small batch and have a quality look as well as enough surface area for branding and labeling.

Other child-resistant edible packaging solutions include boxes, metal tins, weed bags and plastic containers designed to make the contents inaccessible to children, even those who are very determined.

 

Vaporizer and extract packaging

Vaporizers and extracts are offering a great opportunity for innovation in design. The difference between an average and a not-so-average vape line often comes down the difference in branding and packaging. Experiential packaging is becoming an important part of the customer journey.

 

Concentrate packaging

Safe and effective concentrate containers are being custom-molded today and hash, rosin, dab, wax, shatter and crumble are also packaged very differently from the way they were in the past.

 

CBD packaging

With CBD packaging, it is also important to follow all the state regulations. Child-resistant packaging is the best solution for ingestible hemp or cannabis-based CBD products, including herbal supplements that contain CBD.

Some of the best CBD packaging is glass jars in green, blue or amber and bottles with child-resistant caps. The glass does not absorb the oil and opacity means products do not deteriorate with exposure to UV-rays. Other acceptable packaging options for CBD products include metal tins, colored plastic bottles, locking bags and wooden boxes.

Companies are designing bottles that are not just child-resistant but look like cosmetic products. CBD creams with dome-shaped closures look much like top cosmetic house products.

 

Cannabis stickers

A huge variety of imaginative stickers are available that can help with the branding, packaging and presentation of retail or medical cannabis products. Product labeling stickers can have warning symbols.

Canna stickers can also help to convey more about the product. It is possible to buy custom die-cut canna stickers and many other unique types of stickers. Find weed stickers made from high-quality materials for specific purposes.

 

Child-resistant closures

The traditional vial with a screw top and a diagram of how to open it embossed into the plastic is disappearing. New child-resistant closures for products include push-turn dropper caps for CBD oils and squeeze-turn caps for capsules.

Walnut, ash or bamboo screw tops are replacing traditional white plastics. Boxes have slid-out sheaths and droppers have become tamper-resistant.

 

A final word

Canna packaging companies are working with industrial engineers, product developers, designers and printers to come up with packaging that uses new materials and explores new formats.

Legal compliance, functionality, aesthetics and sustainability are some of the factors they are taking into consideration when designing increasingly stylized and sophisticated packaging. Those who can take canna packaging and make it child-proof as well as functional and beautiful have every opportunity to dominate the market.