While recreational cannabis prevails in the Commonwealth, more parents are turning to legal cannabis products to help enhance or alleviate the routines of everyday life.

As a responsible parent and cannabis consumer in general, it’s crucial to stay mindful about your products being improperly stored or accessible to children. Cannabis products, whether with THC or CBD, contain compounds that can pose risks to children if consumed accidentally or inappropriately.

It may be more complex than just shuffling a bag of bud behind a cabinet or dresser drawer. However, ensuring all cannabis products are properly stored away is vital to the health and safety of your child or children.

It prevents accidental ingestion, complies with legal and ethical standards, and sets a positive and more responsible example as a parental role model.

Read these best practices for keeping cannabis safe from kids and learn how to become a more conscious and responsible parental consumer!

Storing Cannabis: Best Practices

Once you’ve got your hands on some cannabis from our Full Harvest Moonz dispensary, knowing how to store your products properly is essential to its overall quality control.

Failure to store cannabis properly could weaken your products’ potency and a lack of flavor or smell. Here are a few factors that contribute to the overall quality in which you store your cannabis:

• Humidity Control

From growing, harvesting, and packaging – cannabis can be at risk of growing mold. Dry storing conditions are essential to cannabis flower in multiple stages of the drying, curing, and storing process to prevent any mold or bud rot that can occur.

Keeping your cannabis flower in a controlled environment will help to maintain the essence of the bud – this includes the aroma, flavor profile, and even color.

Humidity packs or special climate-controlled glass storage containers help to prevent any excess moisture from getting exposed to cannabis.

• Temperature 

The temperature is another crucial factor for cannabis quality control. Cannabis should be stored in a cool, dry place with an ideal temperature of or under 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Extreme temperatures, both too hot and too cold, can quickly dry out the flower’s flavor profile of terpenes and cannabinoids.

• Air & Light 

Cannabis with long or intense exposure to air and light will have severe impacts on the temperature and humidity of where cannabis is stored. While cannabis naturally degrades into other cannabinoids over time, exposure to light or air can expedite the process and affect the essence and potency of the plant.

Knowing the Rules (and Following Them) 

Before getting into helpful tips and tricks for safely storing your cannabis at home, let’s review some regulations and laws around recreational cannabis in Massachusetts:

• To purchase from a recreational dispensary in Massachusetts, the state law requires all customers must be age 21 or older with a proper photo ID.

• Infants, children, and underage minors under the age of 21 are prohibited from entering a dispensary.

• Furthermore, Massachusetts requires all cannabis packaging to be “packaged in plain, opaque, tamper-proof, and child-proof containers without depictions of the product, cartoons, or images other than the RMD’s logo.”

These state regulations are put in place to define the safety between children and their access to cannabis.

How to Store Away Cannabis Around Kids 

No matter if you use cannabis medically, recreationally, or both, it is imperative to have your products safely stored away from children at all times. Storing away cannabis should be treated similarly to other medications. Like pharmaceuticals, many medications come with tamper-evident and child-resistant packaging.

While the many therapeutic benefits of cannabis have adults exploring a wide selection of products – consuming cannabinoids too young may risk interrupting a child’s cognitive development. 

Especially for children, consuming cannabis with high THC potency could have adverse mental and physical effects on your young ones.

Tips for Safely Storing Cannabis 

Depending on the type of cannabis product you’re looking to hide away from your curious kiddos, there are plenty of tips to keep in mind for safe and proper cannabis storage:

Edibles 

Cannabis edibles are one of the more common products to be cautious with around children. With edible products in the form of chocolates, gummies, sodas, and other sweets – what child wouldn’t be curious?!

Plus, with an assortment of colorful, eye-catching branding that is represented on cannabis products, it can look tempting and appealing to children. Once you’ve purchased cannabis edibles, your safest bet is to remove any colorful packaging that could look attractive to children and hide it in something more discrete.

Flower 

Cannabis flower – whether in a sealed eighth jar, zip bag, or child-resistant plastic container, must still be properly stored and locked away to prevent access from children. Go the extra step of purchasing a cannabis stash box or lock box for peace of mind that your cannabis is stored safely.

Additionally, no matter the type of cannabis product you’re attempting to safely stow away in your house, consider these cannabis safety tips:

• Keep it locked: Store cannabis products in a locked cabinet or container that is out of reach and sight of children. Avoid keeping it in easily accessible areas such as countertops, nightstands, or low drawers.

• Choose child-resistant packaging: When purchasing cannabis products, look for child-resistant packaging that is specifically designed to prevent children from easily opening them.

• Educate older children: If you have older children who may be curious about cannabis, it’s important to have open and honest conversations with them about its risks and responsible use. Emphasize the importance of not sharing or using cannabis products without proper knowledge and consent.

• Be mindful of visitors: If you have guests or visitors with children, make sure to store your cannabis products securely to prevent accidental access by curious little hands.

• Store accessories safely: Cannabis accessories such as pipes, vaporizers, and grinders should also be stored away from children to prevent accidental use or ingestion.

Ultimately, the best suggestion is to have all cannabis products remain “out of sight and out of reach.”

The more challenging you make accessing your cannabis products when not in use, the safer they will be from getting into the hands of the wrong person (or child)!

Consuming Safely & Responsibly with Full Harvest Moonz

As a recreational cannabis dispensary in Massachusetts, Full Harvest Moonz is dedicated to providing individuals with the highest quality cannabis products, services, and education.

This means safety awareness about the regulations of legal cannabis in Massachusetts and how to prevent the risk of products getting into the hands of children.

At both Haverhill and Lowell locations, our Full Harvest Moonz dispensary menus offer products with safe, child-resistant packaging with safety and security in mind.

Stop by one of our recreational dispensary locations in MA and follow our Instagram for the latest retail deals and offerings!