Last week’s ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada that legalized medicinal marijuana edibles boosted business for one local cannabis candy producer.
“As soon as it happened on Thursday [June 11], our phone started ringing off the hook from different dispensaries across Canada wanting to get our product into their stores,” said Michelle Sikora, who owns and operates S&M Medicinal Sweet Shoppe with her husband Doug out of their home in Selma Park.
“People are asking us, ‘How much can we get and how fast?’”
The Sikoras have been making and selling organic marijuana edibles, teas, tinctures, lotions and oils for two years through a mail-order process that, until now, they say, has operated “in a grey zone” pending the outcome of the Supreme Court case.
On June 11, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unanimously that inhaling marijuana can present health risks for some people and that limiting patients to only smoking the herb “unjustifiably violates the guarantee of life, liberty and security of the person,” effectively legalizing medicinal marijuana derivatives for use by patients.
“It drastically changes things for us,” Michelle said.
Although the company can still only legally sell their products on the Coast through mail order, she said, established dispensaries in other areas are looking to purchase from the Selma Park suppliers.
Currently the Sikoras are in discussions with a dispensary in Montreal and one in Kelowna that may carry their products in the future.
“We’re not going to allow just anybody to distribute our products. They have to meet a certain standard and have the same respect and values we do,” Michelle noted.
“They need to handle it like it’s a medicine for people, because that’s what it is.”
While the couple has been told in the past they could not obtain a business licence in the District of Sechelt to set up a storefront, Michelle hopes that in the future the District will reverse that position.
“We’re waiting for them to get their public process around how they want to engage the public figured out, and then we want to ask to have a public meeting addressing the issue of having a dispensary on the Sunshine Coast, because there are a lot of people who need it,” Michelle said, adding, “We only want to do edibles. We don’t want to sell marijuana.”
