By Dalton Rosario
Canada’s Department of Health has opened public feedback for proposing new parameters within their emerging markets for edibles, cannabis-infused beverages and THC/CBD derived extracts.
Business owners, social advocates and market consumers have until February 20th, 2019 to let their voices be heard on a range of topics from licensing to manufacturing and packaging restrictions. Health Canada is pushing for legislation to be passed in the summer with new regulatory infrastructure set in place by October of next year.
Canadian manufacturers have risen concerns regarding the harsh single-serving restrictions proposed for packaging and labeling requirements, limiting THC concentration to 10-milligrams per serving.
To put that in perspective, states within the U.S. that have established recreational markets such as Colorado, Washington and California allow consumers to buy as much as 100-milligrams per product serving.
Furthermore, Health Canada has allowed up to 1,000-milligrams of THC for concentrates and extracts, begging the question of what benefit comes from such confining regulations specific to edibles.
And if these restrictions are imposed by lawmakers, what does this mean for legitimate cannabis businesses competing against Canada’s illicit $6B - $8B black market.