Less than six months after the latest rollout of new rules for the packaging and design of marijuana products, the Colorado Department of Revenue announced Tuesday that additional rules that will go into effect Jan. 1.

An announcement of new rules tends to lead to a lot of head-shaking in the industry. Joe Hodas, chief marketing officer for Denver-based Dixie Elixirs, told Colorado Politics that while he hasn’t yet reviewed the new rules, many in the industry are concerned about the volume of rules changes, one after another.

“It makes it difficult as an industry to keep up and ensure we’re in compliance,” he said. “Each round of changes creates additional confusion for manufacturers and dispensaries.”

But this time, those in the industry who have been concerned about the constant rules changes may be able to catch their breath – just a bit.

The rules going into effect Jan. 1 are intended to ensure that marijuana packaging doesn’t appeal to minors and that marijuana is contained in packages that cannot be easily opened by them.

The new rules on labeling should also make it easier for Colorado consumers to know what they’re consuming, according to Mike Hartman, executive director of the Colorado Department of Revenue. The department’s Marijuana Enforcement Division is in charge of regulating the industry.

Hartman told Colorado Politics that this iteration of rules applies to labeling and includes a change to eliminate some packaging language. The intent is to avoid the “white noise” effect, Hartman explained, which occurs when there’s so much information on a label that a consumer can’t figure out the most important thing they should know about the product.

A second change has to do with how the rules are applied, particularly when those rules don’t have a nexus with public health and safety.

Hartman’s department knows the industry preprints labels well in advance. So long as there isn’t a public health risk, manufacturers are being given as much lead time as possible to come up with new labels and burn through old ones – until July 1.

In recent meetings regarding proposed rules, the industry raised concerns that marijuana regulations are beginning to look more like those placed on pharmaceuticals than those placed on alcohol, Hartman said. Amendment 64 requires the industry to be regulated like alcohol, not like drugs. So the new rules actually relaxed some packaging restrictions on certain types of products: seeds and flowers, also known as buds.

Seeds don’t contain THC until the plant reaches a height of eight inches, so the new rules say that seeds don’t have to be in a child-resistant package. A similar situation exists with marijuana buds. According to the scientific research, buds don’t have a hallucinogenic effect until they’ve been heated to a certain point. That’s when the THC is activated. If someone were to accidentally, or even on purpose, consume marijuana buds, there wouldn’t be any hallucinogenic effect, Hartman said. So the marijuana buds can be in packaging that isn’t necessarily child resistant.

However, any product that leaves a dispensary must be in a second package that is child resistant, known as “exit” packaging, Hartman pointed out.

“This gives the industry more flexibility to choose which way they want to handle packaging,” Hartman said.

Another set of rules has to do with the testing frequency for product potency.

“We want to make sure the THC (level) in the product is accurately reflected by the per serving size,” Hartman said.

More frequent testing is also planned to deal with microbial contaminants that can get into the product like mold and bacteria. Because marijuana is illegal at the federal level, products don’t go through the review process of the Food and Drug Administration. These rules will ensure that contaminants don’t get into the population, Hartman said.

Finally, the new rules also create two new licenses available to Colorado research and development labs. The first is a license to allow for research cultivation of marijuana; the second is a research facility license that will allow for experiments under the guidance of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The licenses will put Colorado in a leading position on research, Hartman said.

Kristi Kelly, executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group, said Tuesday she had not yet had an opportunity to survey her members on the finalized rules. But she complimented the department for a collaborative process and productive conversations in the lead-up to the new rules.

Kelly believes the new labeling will help consumers gain a better understanding of what they’re purchasing, and to make better-educated decisions.

“We have a great relationship with the Marijuana Enforcement Division,” Kelly said. “We’re optimistic if there’s anything we need to look at, we will have the ability to do so.”