Health Canada has one year to regulate edible cannabis products and concentrates such as the oil used in vape pens. For companies, the race is on to develop new products

Canadians will probably never be allowed to smoke pot in a restaurant, but they may soon be sweetening their coffee with THC-infused sugar, a cannabis business conference was told Friday.

The future of the marijuana market is not in traditional dried flower, said Niel Marotta, CEO of Indiva, a cannabis grower in London, Ont.

Like many in the industry, Marotta is looking ahead to an explosion in the types of cannabis products that will be for sale sometime in the next year.

The federal government legalized recreational marijuana on Oct. 17, but only dried bud, oil and seeds are available now.

Health Canada has one year to regulate edible cannabis products and concentrates such as the oil used in vape pens.

For companies, the race is on to develop new products. Companies are trying to figure out what customers will want while waiting for the federal government to tell them what will be allowed.

Indiva has a licensing deal with Rudy Edibles, a company that makes cannabis-infused sugar and salt.

Many people who don’t want to smoke cannabis might try it in other forms, Marotta told about 120 people at a business conference held in conjunction with the Cannabis & Hemp Expo at the Shaw Centre this weekend.

“Asking grandma to put it in a pipe and smoke it is a big ask,” Marotta said.

But his own mother can’t wait to try the cannabis sugar, he said. “She can’t stop asking me when it’s coming.”

Like many others, his mom is curious about cannabis, Marotta said in an interview. “There is zero possibility that she’ll ever be a smoker, and I don’t think she’d ever vape, but sugar in her tea or salt on her fries…”

The sugar comes in varieties infused with THC, the psychoactive chemical that causes the high, and CBD, a chemical with medical benefits.

Marotta says he doubts if anti-smoking laws will ever be relaxed to allow pot smoking in bars, restaurants and other public indoor spaces.

“But if you want to put some sugar in your coffee, that is not offensive to anybody.”

Indiva also has a joint venture with Bhang, a U.S. manufacturer of cannabis chocolates and vape pens. Indivia has the right to produce and sell products under that brand.

Other Canadian cannabis companies are making similar deals to add brands that are well known in U.S. states that have legalized pot.

Ottawa-based Auxly Cannabis Group, for example, has a licensing deal with Dixie Brands, a Colorado producer of cannabis drinks, chocolates and candies.

Auxly CEO Chuck Rifici told the conference that Health Canada would have to allow the sale of products already available on the black market, such as hash and shatter, if it hoped to combat illegal sales.

Health Canada officials say they hope to release draft regulations on edibles and concentrates by the end of the year.

In the meantime, companies are dreaming up new products, from beverages to lotions.

It’s an exciting time, said Ottawa lawyer Trina Fraser, who advises cannabis companies and is an expert on the regulatory process.

“The sky’s the limit,” at least until the regulations arrive, Fraser said. “Everybody is out there innovating in the absence of regulations.”

jmiller@postmedia.com

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