Pubdate: Fri, 12 Jun 2015
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2015 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/send_a_letter
Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Jessica Botelho-Urbanski
Page: A16
Referenced: (R. v. Smith): http://mapinc.org/url/d2dzMbjW

WINNIPEG BAKERY HIGH ON MARIJUANA VICTORY

"SPECIAL" brownies could soon be the running special at a Winnipeg
bakery near you.

After a unanimous Supreme Court decision Thursday ruled in favour of
legalizing the production of edible medical marijuana products such as
pastries, cooking oils and teas, Winnipeg tokers celebrated with
cannabis-infused beverages and pastries at Vapes Off Main on Albert
Street.

The 18-plus smoking lounge licensed for medical marijuana users has
high hopes for new programming possibilities, thanks to the new rules.
It will start selling baked goods and provide cooking classes now that
the grey area surrounding edibles is gone.

"This is definitely a very big hurrah for all of the medical patients
and users across Winnipeg," said Vapes Off Main co-founder LeeAnne
Kent.

Many of the lounge's members prefer ingesting marijuana to smoking it,
especially the older female patrons, Kent said. They say the resulting
high is less harsh. Patients often dabble with new recipes.

"You're not so much feeling the THC of the marijuana because that gets
cooked away with the edibles," Kent said. "It's kind of like a mild
sedative, but not so much where you're dopey or sleepy, but you're
actually comfortable."

For members such as Tyrell Benton, 24, who battles chronic back pain,
eating marijuana is the only way he can feel relief.

"The main reason I got into baking was because smoking is not very
effective when it comes to muscular problems," Benton said. "I could
smoke until I was high as a kite, but my back would still be throbbing."

After four years, he's mastered the art of baking cannabis brownies,
cookies and cupcakes and will soon start teaching cooking classes for
other wannabe chefs at Vapes Off Main. "I can do drinks, I can do
liquids, I can do butters - coconut oil and avocado oil are my
fortes," Benton said.

Benton and Kent agreed the new marijuana legislation was a long time
coming and should help de-stigmatize pot consumption. "New knowledge
is coming through... it's finally getting into our era, the truthful
facts of this medicine," said Kent.

For the only licensed medical marijuana growing company in Winnipeg,
more lax rules might also prompt a spike in business.

John Arbuphnot, the vice-president of Delta 9 Bio-Tech, said his
company is restricted by Health Canada to only selling dried marijuana
to clients, for the time being. Still, that client list has been
growing steadily by "several hundred" every month, he said.

"Moving these new products into the industry would be profound," said
Arbuphnot. "I would venture that many of the companies covered in the
MMPR (Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations) would be interested
to try (selling) a pill, a patch or a spray."

Local restaurateurs could also get in the game. Ana Damaskin, one of
the chefs at Nick's on Broadway, said she would be interested in
making a foray into cooking edibles for medical marijuana patients as
a side business, separate from Nick's.

"I personally think (edibles) should be available. I have friends with
Crohn's disease and they're unable to smoke, so they should be able to
eat (pot)," she said.

Damaskin acknowledged cooking marijuana to be tricky. A recipe for
cannabis butter she made for her friends takes about 16 hours to prepare.
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MAP posted-by: Matt