Health Canada Approves E-commerce for Vapes

A large shift in the legalization of both medical and recreational cannabis both nationally and around the world has led to several questions about how it can be grown, sold and imported/exported. [1],[2] As Bill C-45 moves through the Senate since it was passed in the House of Commons on November 27, 2017, licensed producers (LPs) are currently wrestling for domination of the recreational market share as Canada continually moves to legalize its use.[3],[4],[5] Though Canadians will see some delays with the bill that many are calling rushed, legalization of recreational cannabis use is expected to be made into law by July 1st, 2018, though some expect that there could be delays that push the legal sale of recreational cannabis date back to late summer/early fall.[6] Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said legal cannabis will go on sale in all provinces and territories at the same time, which suggests if just one of them requires the full 12 weeks to get ready, this will create a delay that will hold sales off across Canada.

In parallel, other drug delivery methods that are alternatives to traditional combustion smoking such as vaping have become increasingly popular for both tobacco and cannabis products. In a strategic milestone win, a Canadian e-commerce company has been successful at seeking approval from Health Canada for a medical device establishment license (MDEL).[7] Companies such as Namaste Technologies Inc. (CSE:N)(CSE:N.CN)(OTCMKTS:NXTTF) a wholly owned subsidiary of Cannmart Inc. must have an MDEL license to do business, that is to import vaporizers for the purposes of distribution within Canada. Even more significant is that until this point, Health Canada has looked to vaporizers, or more specifically, the health effects of vaporizing through a negative lens.[8]

The license will provide a proof-of-concept value to others that look to import new technologies, or more specifically, new methods of cannabis use as manufacturers explore other methods of drug delivery. We are in an exciting time but one that will pose a great challenge to regulatory offices such as Health Canada as the delivery of cannabis and its by-products becomes increasingly complex as we approach legalization in Canada, we have many LPs fighting for that space before the first recreational gram can be legally sold. Amongst those are companies that are developing extremely sophisticated extraction and drug delivery technologies faster than Health Canada is able to develop new guidelines to confirm the safety and efficacy of these new technologies. It’s an exciting space to be in and as Health Canada continues to grow and adapt to these new laws, we will surely see many of these companies fail at navigating the regulations effectively without seeking proper regulatory guidance beforehand.