Future of cannabis edibles still hazy
Companies creating products, but unclear when it will be legal to sell them
Beer brewed with marijuana, baking mixes concocted to bring out the unique flavours of cannabis oil and good, old-fashioned pot cookies: Canadian companies are creating them all, but it’s unclear when stores will legally be able to stock the edibles for recreational users.
Instead, business owners have been getting creative to manufacture, refine and sell their products.
Ottawa has pledged that recreational marijuana will become legal sometime this year and the Senate recently approved the pot-legalization bill.
But the federal government says the sale of edible cannabis products won’t be legal immediately.
That hasn’t stopped Canadian companies from entering the market.
Tim Moore, CEO of Toronto-based Xanthic Biopharma, thinks edibles are the preferred form of cannabis consumption for many people, in part because they’re portable, discreet and don’t carry the same stigma as lighting up a joint.
“Smoking has been somewhat vilified over the past few generations. And vaping has some issues,” Moore said.
“We think (edibles are) going to become a big part of the business in Canada over the next couple of years.”
His company has created technology that converts cannabis into a powder, and works with licensed cannabis producers to make products such as drinks infused with THC, marijuana’s active ingredient.
Because of current Canadian laws, the products have only been available in parts of the U.S.
There are benefits to working south of the border, Moore said.
“Our initial markets, for us, have been in the Western U.S., where recreational products are legal. But now we come back to Canada and we’re talking to (licensed producers) here and we have the credibility that we’ve been in that market down there, have moved along the learning curve,” he said.
Other companies have found it more difficult to navigate Canada’s rules.
Dooma Wendschuh, co-founder of Province Brands, a Toronto-based firm brewing beer from marijuana, he said it’s been “more or less impossible” to work in Canada.
While his team can make small batches of product here, Canadian law prohibits them from doing taste tests, he said.
“If I wanted to open an ice-cream parlour, I could just open it. If I wanted to make a new flavour of ice cream, I could just make it,” Wendschuh said.
“If I want to make a marijuana beverage, I can make it, but no one is allowed to drink it.”
The company has been very careful to work within the law, doing taste-testing outside of Canada and, when back home, working with hemp instead of marijuana, he said.
So far they’ve created an India pale ale and an imperial Pilsner, Wendschuh said, and they’re looking forward to the day that they can finally sell their products.