Mario Renda has tried pot-laced chocolate truffle cake, pudding and the old standby, brownies.

But never a California dispensary’s new line of cannabis ice cream. That, for the moment, is a treat for medical marijuana users to savour just in Santa Cruz.

Crème de Canna this month introduced three flavours of marijuana-laced ice cream – chocolate, banana and strawberry – for $15 a pint, available only to card-carrying medical-marijuana users.

“It’s made with organic local strawberries and a Grand Marnier reduction,” says Jonathan Kolodinski, owner of the licensed dispensary.

Each half pint is equivalent to “two or three doses” of marijuana.

Pot edibles date back to ancient times. The venerable The Stoner’s Cookbook offers recipes for ice cream made with cannabutter, as Kolodinski’s is, and has recently developed an iPhone application link.

The process involves gently infusing butter with marijuana leaves.

Renda, publisher of Treating Yourself magazine and organizer of Toronto’s first medical marijuana and hemp conference in July, applauds the idea.

“I am 100 per cent supportive of any products that help patients cope with their ailments,” says Renda. “Let’s face it. We all love to eat ice cream, so why not medicated ice cream?”

Treating Yourself offers monthly recipes for marijuana-laced food and a forum by Chef Moe of Moe’s Medibles, which makes treats for medical marijuana users.

The new line, says Kolodinski, is very popular with people “coming back for seconds and thirds. It’s a healthier alternative for people who don’t want to smoke.”

It seems to be a trend. The TV show Cannabis Planet also has an on-air chef who cooks everything from soup to nuts with a buzz.