Experimental pot lab sprouting cannabis-infused drinks, new edibles
Nestled inside Canopy Growth Corp.’s sprawling marijuana facility outside Ottawa is a laboratory where technicians in white lab coats and hair nets bustle about, pipetting fluids into glassware as machinery hums and coloured, three-dimensional graphs flash on nearby screens.
The lab is unlike any other in the 15,600-square-metre facility, a so-called dealers licence area, which allows the company to experiment with materials and products that are not otherwise legal in Canada – or even the rest of the facility.
It’s a separate room within Canopy’s enormous operation at an old Hershey’s chocolate factory in Smith Falls, Ont., where scientists develop ideas into products – from cannabis-infused drinks to new edibles – ahead of anticipated changes to Canada’s marijuana laws. Lab technician Christina Navarro works in the Dealer License Area (DLA) at Canopy Growth Corp’s Tweed facility in Smiths Falls, Ont.
and toxins.
Elaborate machines – whirling tubes and electric boxes suspended in a metal lattice, all of it reminiscent of a Dr. Seuss illustration – fill half the room. It’s the first time media has been allowed into the space; taking photos of the devices is forbidden in order to prevent details about the sensitive technology from falling into the hands of competitors.
As Canada looks ahead to legalizing recreational marijuana later this year, Canopy’s lab is part of a general trend toward more sophistication in an industry looking to shed lingering stereotypes of basement grow-ops and black market dealers.
Geiling arrived at Canopy two-and-a-half years ago after completing graduate studies in biology at Mcgill University in Montreal and had never imagined working at a marijuana company.
“Absolutely not. When I first started here I was very skeptical,
until my first day. Then I realized this wasn’t just someone’s garage,” he said, laughing.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. I had some ideas that maybe it wouldn’t be a very sophisticated operation, there wouldn’t be a lot of science. I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
Geiling said the dealers licence area is more of a pharmaceutical regulation, separate from the regulatory framework that surrounds the ACMPR, or Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulation.
In 2016, Canopy became the second company in Canada to obtain the unique licence, which also allows it to test marijuana from other legal growers, to determine the chemical makeup of their product.
“This is no longer something that’s run by biker gangs or people growing in their basement,” Geiling said. “This is a true pharmaceutical facility.”
“This is no longer something that’s run by biker gangs or people growing in their basement … This is a true pharmaceutical facility.” Ben Geiling, scientific adviser