Page 23 - MENU Magazine - March/April 2018

W e’ve heard the national conversation around the legalization of cannabis for years now. The federal government announced its plans to aim for legalization of recreational cannabis
in the summer of 2018. These plans remain on track (the o cial date of legalization looks now to be late summer).
There are important debates still happening. But outside these more common discussions are the implications of legalization in the foodservice industry, as well as economic rami cations.
We’ve spent time with the experts—a Canadian company on the frontlines of cannabis legalization called Starseed Medicinal.
In that time, we have visited one of Canada’s cannabis production facilities and met one of Canada’s leaders in the medical cannabis community, Dr. Peter Blecher. And nally, let’s take a speculative look ahead to the world of edibles legalization, which is
not set to happen until 2019. We’ve looked at those in the culinary community south of the border, in communities in Colorado to California, and back up to BC where you’ll meet a Canadian veteran-turned-chef who has championed the work of incorporating medical cannabis into real food.
Cannabis is coming. There are implications for foodservice that you haven’t even thought of. We spell it out in the pages that follow,
and we’ll continue to look at this new normal from the perspective of what legalization means to Canadian restaurateurs.
The production, testing, manu- facturing and sales of cannabis are directed by The Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR).
Bill C-45 is the Cannabis Act: an Act respecting cannabis and to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Crimi- nal Code and other Acts.
“This enactment enacts the Cannabis Act to provide legal access to cannabis and to control and regulate its production, distribution and sale.
The objectives of the Act are to prevent young persons from accessing cannabis, to protect public health and public safety by establishing strict prod- uct-safety and product-quality requirements, and to deter criminal activity by imposing serious criminal penalties for those operating outside the legal framework. The Act is also intended to reduce the burden on the criminal justice system in relation to cannabis.”
(Source: openparliament.ca)
Dig in
Please visit the website for your province or territory for speci c infor- mation about the rollout of cannabis legalization in your region. Also, visit restaurantscanada.org for more information
on legalization and the impacts on foodservice in Canada.
What do you need to know about legalization as a foodservice professional?
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Legalization of medical cannabis took place in 2001. Legalization of cannabis for recreational use is set to happen in the summer of 2018.
The legalization of edibles may happen in 2019 according to proposed recommendations from the federal government.
Legalization is a federal government-led initiative. However, the provinces and territories—and indirectly municipalities regarding enforcement—will be respon- sible for regulating the distribution and sale of cannabis and cannabis products.
MARCH / APRIL 2018 MENU 23