Pubdate: Fri, 12 Jun 2015
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Website: http://mapinc.org/url/RpUkCswy
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Kelly Sinoski
Page: A3

EDIBLE POT PRODUCTS NEED LABELS: DOCTOR

B.C.'s medical officer says consumers need to know potency of what
they are ingesting

B.C.'s chief medical health officer says edible marijuana products
should come with labels listing the strains used and their potency,
whether they're being sold at pot dispensaries or during events such
as Vancouver's 4/20 rally.

Dr. Perry Kendall said Thursday labels would allow pot users to
estimate the effects of drug laced cookies or brownies to ensure they
don't accidentally overdose and get sick.

"Quality control, certainly for medical use, should be labelled and
analyzed," Kendall said Thursday.

Kendall's comments follow a unanimous Supreme Court of Canada ruling
Thursday that edible pot can be legally consumed by medical marijuana
patients in products such as cookies, brownies and teas.

Federal regulations had previously stipulated medical pot users could
use only dried marijuana, but the court ruled the government's medical
pot program was constitutionally flawed and breached patients' rights.

"Across the country there will be a lot more smiles and a lot less
pain," said Owen Smith, a former baker for the Victoria Cannabis
Buyers Club, whose 2009 arrest led to the legal challenge.

The high court ruling noted that inhaling marijuana could be more
detrimental to people's health than if they ate it.

Kendall agrees it's important edible pot products be available to
medical users who do not want to smoke their marijuana, but maintains
there should be a labelling system.

Edible pot takes longer to get into the bloodstream and the brain, he
noted, which means in many cases people will take more than they can
handle because they don't get the initial buzz they would get from
smoking it. The effects also last longer.

"It can take a half an hour to an hour to absorb through the stomach,"
Kendall said. "If you're a naive young user you might go on eating and
eating because you don't feel anything and then you take more than you
want to."

In April, 64 people - about 0.3 per cent of all participants - who
took part in Vancouver's 4/20 rally at the Art Gallery were admitted
to St. Paul's Hospital during the afternoon and evening with nausea,
vomiting and dizziness. Patricia Daly, the chief medical health
officer at Vancouver Coastal Health, said of those who disclosed what
they had taken, 36 consumed edibles, 13 smoked pot and five did both.

The event included scores of booths that competed to sell marijuana
products, including cleverly named strains of pot and infused edibles.

"If they're going to do that and make money from it, they have a
responsibility to their customers," Kendall said. "It's a fairly
unregulated market. Some are making tens of thousands of dollars."

Kendall said listing the specific active ingredients on edible pot
would help users assess the potency and control their doses. Labels
would also help users pick active ingredients best for their specific
needs. Cannabidiol, for example, is good for controlling pain and epilepsy.

Tilray, a Nanaimo-based company licensed to sell medical marijuana,
said the court ruling could open the door to more research into edible
pot products, extracts, controlled dosages and methods of preparation
- - something patients have demanded.

"We're still in the position of only supplying dried medical cannabis
for patients," said CEO Greg Engel. "For today nothing changes. But it
does heighten (the) need for research."

The City of Vancouver said Thursday it will stick to its decision to
ban all edible products, with the exception of oils, from medical
marijuana dispensaries.

City staff and Coastal Health's Daly maintain products being sold in
the form of candies and baked goods appeal to children, while the sale
of oils allows individuals to create their own edibles. The city said
proposed regulation does not compromise an individual's right to
edible medical marijuana.

"Evidence in the U.S. is that wider availability of these products is
causing increased poisonings in children, and we want to prevent this
from occurring here in Vancouver," the city stated in a news release.

The city is conducting a multi-day public hearing as part of its bid
to regulate medical pot dispensaries as their number nears 100.

The shops are illegal because federal law permits the sale of medical
marijuana, but only by mail, through licensed, registered producers.
The city regulations would include a new business licence category, a
$30,000 fee and a requirement stores be 300 metres away from schools,
community centres and other pot shops.

Kendall said the city's decision is a "good compromise" because it
puts the onus on pot dispensaries rather than having the city regulate
an illegal substance. "What the city is trying to do is regulate
outlets rather than what they're selling," he said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt