Arrival of cannabis edibles feeds new opportunities for Calgary businesses

It's been more than a year since cannabis was legalized in Canada, and now new options for its useare hitting the market in Calgary.

Marijuana edibles became available in some stores across the city on Monday. More businesses will follow suitin the coming days as deliveries willfill theshelves with gummies, chocolates, cookies and mints.

Queen of Bud in Sunalta was one ofa handful of stores to get ediblesin stock first thing Monday. The phone was ringing off the hookand customers who stopped by for other products were soon wooed into purchasingcandy.

The most popular item? Pineapple gummy bears.

"[People] feel a lot more confident in your purchase. You don't have to be as wary," said Adam Shammoury, an employee, alluding to the stereotype of overstuffed pot brownies.

"You feel a lot safer buying something from Health Canada regulation than if you were buying off the black market."

Edibles bring a new business opportunity for an oversaturated cannabis market in Calgary. Ottawa cleared edibles in Decemberbutit took several weeks for shipments to arrive in Alberta storessince the province controls sales and distribution throughAlberta Gaming, Liquor andCannabis.

The sweets openup a different customer base, for examplepeople wary of smoking. Customers at Queen of Bud said they were happy with the convenience, fun and accessibility of edibles.

The dose of THC or CBD varies for each edible, with some chocolate bars containing 10 mg and gummiesonly 2.5 mg. All the provincial laws for smoking cannabis still apply for eating it.

Minors, under the age of 18, are prohibited from consuming or smoking marijuana. Youcan only possess up to 30 grams of cannabis in public.

The provincehas by far the highest concentration of cannabis stores in the country, with 373stores. Incomparison, Ontario only has 23.

In the year since pot was legalized, Health Canada reported sales of the dried product more thandoubled.

Seeing green

In the city's northeast, edibles have gourmet chocolate manufacturer Brad Churchillseeing green and it's not thecannabis leaves.

His company Choklatis one of the first to be granted permission from the federal government to begin infusing their chocolate with cannabis. With that Federal Cannabis Processing License approval, he projects they willsurpass the total revenue from last year in just a month.

"It's taking us into a whole different stratosphere," he said.

However, the rewards come with hurdles. The federal government is strict about separating cannabis production from other foods, meaning Churchill needs two separate warehouses to avoid accidental cross-contamination.

On top of that, license holders have to give Health Canada 60 days notice of their intent to create cannabis products.

He's planning all sorts of flavours and tastesbut with roadblocks still to clear it could be the spring before Choklat's cannabis bars are available for purchase.