Health Canada Must Review Organigram Case – Cannabis | weed | marijuana

A federal judge has ordered Health Canada to review its Organigram case regarding what a cannabis edible is.

Earlier this year, Health Canada sent cease and desist letters to LPs. They accused the licensed manufacturers of selling cannabis edibles disguised as extracts.

Organigram was one of those LPs. Health Canada said their lozenges, known as Jolts, are actually edible. This decision placed the product under a different regulatory framework, namely a cap of 10 mg THC per unit.

So Organigram contacted their lawyers. Judge Cecily Strickland ruled that Health Canada was wrong. The federal health bureaucracy must review and reevaluate its original decision.

Of course, Health Canada can state that its initial decision to classify lozenges as a food was correct. And then we are back at the beginning.

But right now it’s Organigram 1, Health Canada 0.

Partial victory for Org

It is music to our ears to hear a federal court order against Health Canada. But as previously mentioned, Health Canada could make the same decision in the Organigram case.

The federal court also didn’t address Organigram’s main complaint: Health Canada made that decision after it approved the lozenges as extracts. Jolts have been on the market since August 2021. It wasn’t until early 2023 that Health Canada decided to flex its bureaucratic muscles.

Judge Strickland did not rule on the “adequacy” of Health Canada’s compliance letter. She said there was a “breach of procedural fairness” in the original decision. Ergo, go back to the drawing board and see if you screwed up.

Only in government can people examine themselves for possible wrongdoing.

Organigram wanted the court to overturn Health Canada’s decision on edible extracts. So this is only a partial victory.

Judge Strickland ruled that Health Canada did not give Organigram sufficient time (or even opportunity) to respond to their allegations. The federal bureaucracy objected to the size and shape of the lozenges. They claimed it was too big to put under the tongue.

In her ruling, Strickland said, “I have not found any evidence in the documentation I have that would support her conclusion that the size and shape of the jolts could result in consumers not following the instructions for use.”

Why This Health Canada Organigram Case Matters

This Health Canada Organigram case is important for several reasons. An already struggling cannabis industry shouldn’t have to fight these battles because of the petty attitude of Canada’s regulatory bureaucrats.

A cannabis product labeled as “extract” can contain 100 times more THC than a edible.

Bureaucrats shouldn’t be handing out cease and desist letters at the 11th hour. That’s not how healthy Western democracies work. That’s how banana republics work.

Nobody wants to invest in a country where bureaucrats interpret “public health and safety” as interference in consensual capitalist action between adults.

Organigram has not harmed its customers by selling Jolts. And customers were not deceived or harmed by voluntarily purchasing the product.

Health Canada is chasing a bogeyman. Or maybe this whole ordeal was just old bureaucratic inefficiency.

In her decision, Justice Strickland wrote:

[T]The process by which Health Canada assesses the classification of products submitted by manufacturers as edible cannabis or cannabis extract is relatively new and appears to have been in a transitional stage in the pre-decision period… in an attempt to meet future procedural fairness challenges To avoid this, Health Canada should consider clearly identifying the policies and procedures it will rely on when determining non-compliance based on the classification of cannabis products and informing affected parties accordingly.

In other words, don’t be a black box full of information. Communicate with the companies you appear to regulate. Of course, we prefer voluntary financed accreditation agencies.