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US cannabis firm develops THC-laced drink to cash in on Canada’s legalisation
US cannabis firm Puration is developing a psychoactive drink ready to launch in Canada when the country legalises recreational use next year.
The drink will target a lucrative cannabis market which could be worth as much as $8 billion (£4.75bn), almost twice the size of the country’s drinks industry, according to Deloitte.
Canada’s drinks industry is currently worth an estimated $5bn.
The Dallas-based cannabis firm did not go into detail about the drink in production, aside from that it will be infused with THC, the key psychoactive component of the drug.
Puration, owned by American Cannabis Innovations Conglomerated (ACI), already produces sports drinks infused with CBD, a non-psychoactive chemical found in the drug used as a pain reliever and to treat epilepsy.
The company introduced EVERx CBD Infused Sports Water earlier this year in March at Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Annual Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio.
Puration’s chief executive Brian Shibley — a Canadian citizen himself, told reporters that he is enthusiastic about the company’s move away from non-psychoactive products.
“With the pending nationwide legalisation of recreational marijuana in Canada, combined with Puration’s experience in cannabis extractions and making cannabis infused beverages, I am even more enthusiastic today about distributing Puration products in Canada then when I originally came to the company, Shibley said.
“I think Puration’s success with EVERx CBD Infused Water is laudable, but I think the opportunity to introduce a THC infused beverage in Canada is a much bigger opportunity than EVERx.”
Drinks makers and cannabis companies are already eyeing-up the potentially billion-dollar Canadian market, as the country plans to legalise the drug for recreational use nationwide in June 2018.
Last month, drinks giant Constellation bought a minority stake in Canopy Growth Corp — the world’s largest publicly traded cannabis company — for £141 million with plans to make cannabis drinks of its own.