What You Need to Know about Cannabis Labeling in Washington

Recreational marijuana is legal in Washington state, albeit with numerous restrictions and labeling requirements. The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board oversees licensing, sale and distribution of recreational marijuana in Washington. Legal recreational marijuana products in Washington include: useable harvested marijuana, marijuana-infused edibles, concentrates and liquid forms.

Businesses involved in the marijuana trade in Washington are subject to cannabis licensing, labeling, packaging regulations. Washington requires licenses for: producers, processors, retailers, transporters, researchers, and cooperatives. Depending on your role, you should be aware of Washington’s marijuana and packaging requirements.

Washington Cannabis Labeling and Packaging Requirements

The packaging of recreational marijuana in Washington must be child resistant and individually packaged for each serving or dose.

Marijuana labels must contain warning statements covering the product’s health risks and intoxicating effects along with statements about its habit-forming potential, age requirement (21+) and illegal to drive while under the influence. Marijuana labels must also include specific information such as: net weight, date of harvest, concentration of TCH and CBD, pesticide information, inventory identification number, business name and producer, and a statement that the product may be unlawful outside of Washington.

Edible marijuana product labels must contain a specific symbol indicating that it’s not for kids with a prominent emergency phone number. Other information that must be included on edible marijuana labels include: manufacture date, best by date, serving size and total number of servings, total amount of THC and CBD in milligrams, and an ingredient list.

Other Marijuana Labeling Considerations for Printing Your Own Cannabis Labels in Washington

Compliance with Washington’s marijuana label laws is vital, making it important to choose a label printer, blank marijuana labels, and label design software that will help you do just that.

DuraFast Label Company recommends the following full top-selling color label printers for printing your own marijuana product labels:

⁃Epson ColorWorks C3500 (TM-C3500) color label printer

⁃Epson ColorWorks C7500G (TM-C7500G) gloss color label printer

⁃Primera LX500 compact desktop label printer

⁃Afinia L301 entry level color label printer

⁃Afinia L501 high resolution color label printer

⁃Afinia L701 Memjet color label printer

⁃Afinia L801 Memjet color label printer

⁃Afinia L901 Memjet color label printer

We carry blank marijuana labels optimized for each of the label printers we sell. For many recreational cannabis products, including edibles, a premium paper coated label designed for your specific label printer will be an excellent choice. For cannabis extracts and oils, you’ll want blank marijuana labels with oil and water resistance such as polypropylene labels. Don’t see the exact size or label material needed to label marijuana products? We can make custom labels, too!

Finally, we highly recommend investing in label design software such as BarTender or NiceLabel. These programs can help ensure compliance with Washington’s marijuana labeling laws. For example, you can create a master compliant label complete with the required symbol, warning statements, and other elements and then use that as a template for all the subsequent marijuana labels you print. With Excel connectivity, you can quickly print a batch of compliant labels.

DuraFast Label Company can help you with all of your label printing needs, including the complex labeling requirements of the recreational marijuana industry in Washington. Contact us today to learn more.