—by Toni-Marie Ippolito
With the legalization of cannabis now in effect, Canadians still have questions when it comes where to get it and how they can take the product.
If you’re not a smoker, chances are you may prefer to consume cannabis, whether it’s for recreational or medicinal purposes, in edible form. In fact, a recent study from Dalhousie University says that Canadians want to try edible marijuana products. The big “but” here is that cannabis edibles are not legal for sale to customers.
The Dalhousie University study found that 46 per cent of Canadians would try cannabis-infused food products if they became available on the market. Thirty-nine per cent would be willing to try it in a restaurant, but only 20 per cent said that they know enough about cooking with marijuana to do it at home. However, 59 per cent worry about the risk that legalizing the use of recreational marijuana poses for children and young adults who will have increased access to it.
The preliminary study, entitled “Cannabis-infused food and Canadian consumers’ willingness to consider recreational marijuana as a food ingredient” was led by Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, professor in food distribution and policy at the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University and lead author of Canada’s Food Price Report and Dr. Simon Somogyi, associate professor in the Faculty of Agriculture at Dalhousie.
A total of 1087 people took part in the survey, conducted in English and French over four weeks in August 2017. The survey shows that the majority of Canadians (68 per cent) are supportive of legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes, with British Columbians being the most supportive (79 per cent) and people on the Prairies being the least (54 per cent).
The Federal government of Canada legalized the recreational use of marijuana on July 1, 2018. However, Bill C-45, also known as the Cannabis Act, does not include the legalization of edible products, such as marijuana-infused baked goods. This means Canadians will not be able to purchase cannabis-infused goods such as cookies, brownies and candy, etc.
The federal government has said that it plans to deal with such products, which are commonly known as “edibles,” at a later date, but that only dried cannabis, fresh cannabis, cannabis plants, cannabis seeds and cannabis oil will be legally available for purchase. You can, however, make edibles yourself for your own consumption.
“People are interested in cooking with marijuana, but they don’t yet know how,” says Charlebois. “However, younger people and those from higher-income households are more likely to feel confident in their abilities.” Baked goods, oils and spices are among the products survey respondents said they’d be interested in trying.
Although cannabis edibles are currently prohibited under the Cannabis Act Charlebois says consumers want them. “It’s short-sighted,” says Charlebois says of the fact that edibles are not yet legal. “Our study shows that the majority of Canadians are willing to purchase them, and edibles are Health Canada’s recommended consumption form for cannabis.”
