Legal consumption could eventually vary widely
Picture yourself enjoying a bottle of cannabis beer after a long day, as you rub THC cream into your sore muscles and your spouse dozes off thanks to a marijuana-derived sleep aid.
It’s a vision of the future of legal cannabis consumption that may be closer to reality than many expect.
While Canadians will be able to buy marijuana for recreational purposes in retail shops across the country sometime later this year, it’s not just the pungent plant that’s making entrepreneurs and investment bankers salivate. It’s also the chemical compounds: THC, CBD, and dozens of other cannabinoids, which can be extracted and reformulated into all manner of consumer and medical products.
At first, the legal products will be limited to dried bud, oil and gel caps — brownies and other edibles won’t be legal until at least mid2019, if ever. But Canadian companies are already busy dreaming up novel ways of getting buzzed or treating medical conditions, some of which could end up as mainstream as sparking a joint.
“Culturally speaking we’re very comfortable consuming our intoxicants in a beverage format,” said Keith Merker, chief financial officer of Ontario licensed producer WeedMD Inc., which recently entered into a joint venture aimed at eventually supplying cannabis based drinks in Canada.
“If we can produce a beverage which has similar effects as wine or beer, but with cannabinoids as the primary active ingredient, a substance that is known to be much less toxic than alcohol, all of a sudden there’s a massive market we’re looking at,” he said.
Merker is far from the only one eyeing marijuana-infused beverages. Canopy Growth Corp., the largest Canadian cannabis company, is developing drinkable products alongside U.S. alcohol giant Constellation Brands Inc., which took a 10 per cent stake in Canopy last fall for $245 million.
Across Canada, provincial liquor authorities are overseeing recreational cannabis sales, Canopy CEO Bruce Linton pointed out. "You can’t overestimate the effect of who governs, and how they govern you will impact formats of product,” he said.
The opportunities aren’t only in alcohol-like products, say some cannabis beverage enthusiasts. You only have to look to states where cannabis is legal in the U.S. to see a range of products, from CBD-infused energy drinks to THC tea.
Even the companies most bullish on beverages, however, don’t expect they ’ll be legal in Canada for at least 18 months. And, like brownies or cannabis candies, their ultimate legality is still a question mark for the federal government.
In the meantime, other product forms are catching entrepreneurial eyes.
"Round 2 (of legalization) will include vape pens. And that’s where you’re going to get a significant growth in the off take of product,” said Vic Neufeld, CEO of Aphria Inc, whose company is developing both refillable and disposable e-cigarette-style vape products.
The promise of cannabinoidbased medicine is already drawing major pharmaceutical companies into the space. Last summer Canadian drug producer Apotex Inc. teamed up with licensed producer CannTrust Holdings, and this month, Sandoz Canada Inc., a subsidiary of global pharma powerhouse Novartis AG, signed a partnership deal with B.C. LP Tilray.
Scientists are already looking at cannabinoid treatments for a broad range of conditions, from epilepsy to multiple sclerosis, chemotherapy-induced nausea to post traumatic stress disorder. Interest from Big Pharma means more clinical trials are on the horizon.