Pot producers find a creative way around THC limits for gummies — and Health Canada is not amused
When is an edible not an edible? When it's a chewable extract."
Aurora Cannabis and other cannabis producers appear to be finding some creative ways around doseage limits for legal THC gummies - and Health Canada apparently isn't amused.
Some of the products, which hit legal pot stores and the Ontario Cannabis Store website late last year, even have a cheeky name: Glitches." And they're a natural result, say industry officials, of competition from the grey market, where vastly stronger edibles are readily available.
Industry sources say several licensed producers, including Aurora, have received letters from Health Canada recently about edibles which the regulator said didn't conform to the rules. It wasn't immediately clear if any of the products used the same approach as Aurora's Glitches.
The Drift brand, Glitches, produced by Aurora, each contain 10 mg of THC, four times the legal limit for gummies and other edibles, but the maximum allowed for doses of extract" products.
That caught the attention of Health Canada, which says that's a no-no.
Health Canada has identified edible cannabis products erroneously being classified and marketed as cannabis extract products," said spokesperson Tammy Jarbeau. These non-compliant products do not meet the controls in the Cannabis Act and Cannabis Regulations which serve to mitigate against public health and public safety risks associated with edible cannabis."
Cannabis edibles are allowed to have up to 10 mg of THC per single package. Extract products, on the other hand, can have 10 mg apiece, with a limit of 1,000 mg per package. Extract products, whether they're in gel form or liquid, are also supposed to contain no added sugar or sweeteners. The Glitches ingredient list includes oligofructose, which is listed by Health Canada as a dietary fibre, but is sometimes used as an alternative, low-calorie sweetener.
Jarbeau said Health Canada typically gives companies who run afoul of regulations a chance to allow them to remedy the situation.
Health Canada is in the process of working with implicated licence holders to return them into compliance with the Act and its regulations," said Jarbeau.
Aurora spokesperson Michelle Lefler said the company was following the rules when it developed and launched Glitches.
We take compliance seriously and developed our Aurora Drift Glitches in accordance with the regulations and fulfilled all requirements by Health Canada prior to market launch," said Lefler in an email. We respect Health Canada's oversight and continue to have regular, open dialogue about moving forward."
Producers wouldn't have to do an end-run around rules if THC limits weren't so low, argued former Ontario cabinet minister George Smitherman, the head of the industry association for legal cannabis producers. The low amount of THC allowed in legal edibles is pushing consumers into the grey market, he added.
That limit means we concede that category to the illicit market," said Smitherman, president and CEO of the Cannabis Council of Canada.
On a recent visit to one grey market store, shoppers could buy 10-packs of Stellar" gummies, with each candy containing 100 mg of THC, bags of Pineapple Express gummies containing 50 mg of THC, or a small package of strawberry-flavoured cotton candy containing 150 mg of THC.
Competing with that kind of variety, colourful packaging and dosages, Smitherman said, simply isn't a fair fight for mainstream companies.
We don't have what the consumer is looking for. And in that situation only one thing occurs - they get what they're looking for from the illicit market, which lacks all the safeguards that our products have," said Smitherman, who called the low THC limits for edibles the single biggest flaw in Canada's cannabis legalization.
This is one of the most important things to be addressed proactively," said Smitherman. We would estimate that it's probably a $400- to $500-million category gift to the illicit market."
While government officials have cited health concerns for resisting higher THC limits for edibles, Aurora says consumers are eager for new, safe products from a reliable source.
Aurora firmly believes the legal cannabis market needs novel approaches that Canadian consumers seek, to fight the illicit market that operates without any rules or oversight. The real risk to Canadians is not from legal cannabis producers," said Lefler. Rather the illicit industry is free to market to underage consumers without concern for public health."
Correction - Feb. 1, 2023: Cannabis edibles are allowed to have up to 10 mg of THC per single package. A previous version of this article erroneously said laws allow for up to a maximum of 2.5 mg of THC apiece.
Josh Rubin is a Toronto-based business reporter. Follow him on Twitter: @starbeer