A Langley cannabis company says it received Health Canada approval to produce and sell cocaine, causing quite a stir in B.C. politics.
Mar 02, 2023
Kurtis Doering and Hana Mae Nassar
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A Langley-based cannabis company has caused quite a stir in the B.C. Legislature after it announced it received Health Canada approval to produce and sell cocaine.
The premier says he had no idea this was happening, adding if the federal agency did in fact give the company the green light, it did so without consulting the B.C. government.
In a statement dated Feb. 22, Adastra Holdings Ltd. says Adastra Labs received approval “to include cocaine as a substance that the Company can legally possess, produce, sell and distribute” on Feb. 17.
With the approved amendment to its Controlled Drug and Substances Dealer’s License, the company says it is now allowed to “interact with up to 250 grams of cocaine and to import coca leaves to manufacture and synthesize the substance.”
It goes on to explain that it is planning to support the demand for a safe supply opened up by B.C.’s new drug decriminalization pilot program.
“Harm reduction is a critically important and mainstream topic, and we are staying at the forefront of drug regulations across the board,” Adastra CEO Michael Forbes said. “We proactively pursued the amendment to our Dealer’s License to include cocaine back in December 2022. We will evaluate how the commercialization of this substance fits in with our business model at Adastra in an effort to position ourselves to support the demand for a safe supply of cocaine.”
But Premier David Eby says he was “astonished” by the announcement.