Draft rules for ‘edibles’ released

OTTAWA — Canadians won’t be allowed to buy cannabis-infused booze when other marijuana-laced “edibles” become legal next fall, under new rules the federal government proposed Thursday.

The regulations say cannabis-infused alcoholic products would not be permitted in Canada, except where the alcohol content is minimal, such as in tinctures meant to be consumed a few drops at a time, and they would have to be labelled as non-alcoholic.

Packaging or labelling beer or wine products together with cannabis would also be prohibited, to reduce the risk of people mixing the two substances, which has been deemed a health risk. And companies that produce alcoholic drinks wouldn’t be allowed to put their names or brands on cannabis drinks.

The draft regulations, released by Health Canada, propose three new classes of cannabis: edibles, extracts and topicals — and includes a hard cap on the amount of THC these products can contain.

No package of edibles would be permitted more than 10 milligrams of THC, while extracts and topicals could not exceed 1,000 milligrams of THC.

Restrictions would also be placed on ingredients that would make edible cannabis more appealing to children, such as sweeteners or colourants, or adding ingredients that could encourage consumption, such as nicotine. Cannabis edibles that appear or are packaged like candy or other familiar children’s foods would also be banned.

Similar restrictions are proposed for topical products and cannabis extracts.