Use-By Dates Coming to Marijuana Products in 2024

Colorado marijuana products will soon have use-by dates with durations of nine months on all retail packaging — unless a grower or manufacturer can prove that a later date is justified.

The rule will take effect on January 1, 2024, but marijuana business owners have had over a year to prepare.

The Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division had originally planned to institute a six-month expiration date in 2022, but ultimately allowed for more time and a more expansive duration after pushback from the pot industry.

Unlike "expiration," a word used to indicate the last day that it's considered safe to consume a product, a "use-by" date indicates optimal product freshness or desirability.

Early drafts of expiration rules were based on recommendations from a science and policy committee overseen by the MED and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, but marijuana business owners argued that proposed rules were introduced too late in 2022's rule-making process and were not backed by science. Instead, lawmakers settled on requiring that extracted cannabis vape products include an expiration date, in light of lung injuries and health issues associated with vaping, and determined that later rulemaking discussions would deal with other dispensary products.

As a result of those discussions, use-by dates must be included in state-approved production and inventory tracking systems going forward. Dispensaries will still be able to sell products past their use-by dates. And marijuana product manufacturers can lengthen use-by dates if their products pass sufficient shelf-stability tests, "including but not limited to potency, microbial, and water activity testing," according to the MED.

"Additionally, the Division intends to monitor data regarding regulated marijuana use-by dates following implementation of these rules, and will implement any necessary changes in the future," the MED announced last year.

During hearings in late 2022, MED officials said they'd pushed an expiration date to further protect consumers from degrading and potentially toxic marijuana products, which are prone to mold and microbial growth after harvest or manufacturing. According to the MED and the Colorado Attorney General's Office, this has resulted in a growing number of cases involving potentially adverse health effects for consumers.

Colorado marijuana growers have been hit with eighteen recalls for mold and improper testing in 2023, up from eleven in 2022.