When marijuana becomes legal for recreational use next year, nearly half of Canadians will want to try edible marijuana products, a new study says, even though it remains unlikely that such products will be commercially available.
鈥淐uriosity seems to be driving consumers to want to try a food product, an edible, and the number one choice is bakery goods,鈥� Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, the study鈥檚 lead author, told CTVNews.ca.
Charlebois, a professor of food distribution and policy and the dean of Dalhousie University鈥檚 Faculty of Management, penned 鈥楥annabis-infused food and Canadian consumers鈥� willingness to consider recreational marijuana as a food ingredient鈥� with Dr. Simon Somogyi, an associate professor at Dalhousie鈥檚 Faculty of Agriculture.
In a survey of 1,087 people, the researchers found that 46 per cent of Canadians would try cannabis-infused food products such as baked goods, oils and spices if they were commercially available. Thirty-nine per cent said that they would be willing to try such products in a restaurant. Only 20 per cent said they feel knowledgeable enough to try making marijuana-infused foods at home.
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a huge void around public education with marijuana,鈥� Charlebois said. 鈥淎s a group of researchers, we鈥檙e very concerned that we鈥檙e just not having this discussion right now around edibles.鈥�
The federal government plans to legalize the recreational use of marijuana by July 1, 2018. But in its current form, , also known as the Cannabis Act, does not include the legalization of edible products, such as marijuana-infused baked goods. The federal government has said that it plans to deal with such products, which are commonly known as 鈥渆dibles,鈥� at a later date, but that only dried cannabis, fresh cannabis, cannabis plants, cannabis seeds and cannabis oil will be legally available for purchase next year. Of these products, only cannabis oil can easily be consumed without smoking.
鈥淚t鈥檚 clear that the government has its head in the sand,鈥� Charlebois said. 鈥淧retending that edibles don鈥檛 exist is somewhat misguided because they do exist.鈥�
In early September, the Ontario government became the first province to for recreational use. Edible products are prohibited in the province鈥檚 current plan. But in its recommendations for medical marijuana use, against smoking the plant (though it also states that eating cannabis can ).
鈥淗ealth Canada actually recommends ingesting marijuana instead of smoking it for medicinal use,鈥� Charlebois said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 healthier! So, if people are tempted to try marijuana but they don鈥檛 want to damage their lungs, the edible solution becomes a very attractive one.鈥�
The Dalhousie study also surveyed Canadians鈥� attitudes towards recreational marijuana. Sixty-eight per cent, the study said, support legalization (at 79 per cent, respondents in British Columbia were the most supportive while those in the Prairies were the least at 54 per cent). The study also suggested that Canadians do not believe that edibles will replace alcohol in their lives.
鈥淥ur point is, regardless if C-45 will allow it or not, people will actually try [edibles] one way or the other,鈥� Charlebois said. 鈥淚 think we need to legalize edibles and make sure we have the proper regulatory framework to support it.鈥�
Failing to do so, Charlebois said, will mean the continued existence of a thriving black market in marijuana-infused food products. And a lack of dosage and packaging regulations for edibles means that children will remain at risk, Charlebois said, confirming the fears of the 59 per cent of people in the study who worry about the dangers legalization will create for children and young adults.
鈥淔or parents out there, if you don鈥檛 have the proper regulatory framework, Halloween will become much more scarier than it is now,鈥� Charlebois said. 鈥淕oing through bags of candies, you never know what you can find鈥� Like cannabis-infused gummy bears? Are you serious? That鈥檚 what they were finding in Colorado before they banned them.鈥�
