The Dutch Edible Cannabis Rennaissance

Eating marijuana is of course much healthier than smoking it, and also tends to be more effective in treating physical ailments - edible marijuana means that patients with chronic conditions (such as cancer) can recieve the high doses that they need without having to inhale. We have come a long way from the humble space cake- but a legal situation has arisen in Holland that means that something will have to change soon.

The law concerning space cakes in the Netherlands is a little strange - cannabis cakes may only be sold if the main ingredient is pure crushed marijuana.

Of course, the traditional recipe for making a space cake is to melt butter in a pan and then add your plant material to it, extracting the THC. The butter is then used in baking. However, THC is classified in the Netherlands as a hard drug - creating an awkward situation and making space cakes the only edible product available in Dutch coffee shops.

Modern edibles found in the USA are made from concentrates - using a gas such as carbon dioxide to extract just the cannabinoids and terpenoids from the plant, doing away with the chlorophyll and nasty plant residues that affect the flavour and texture of the edible product.

Of course, these extracts (and the edible products made using them) are highly illegal in the Netherlands, despite herbal cannabis being readily available in coffee shops. It's a backwards, contradictory law, that blocks consumers access to the medicine they need and forces them to use other, less healthy routes of administration (like smoking).

Ryan from Golden Green Bakery is hoping to change all that - following the USA's example of creating a wide range of regulated, high-powered edible cannabis products for the discerning consumer. Golden Green Bakery have created a smorgasbord of tasty edibles - ranging from gummy bears, white chocolate, and rice krispie treats. Every product has a strictly controlled dosage of 10 milligrams of THC.

"We often try to ask the customers what they’d really want to have, not only in taste but also in terms of dosage.”

Professionally creating cannabis edibles is no simple task - different types of marijuana contain different classes of terpenes, which give them specific flavours and smells. The strain of cannabis that you use for extractions will of course affect both the flavour and the effect of the final product, and so it's important that caregivers use the right plants to give the patients what they need.

“Cannabis concentrates can have quite a strong flavor. We had to figure out how to deal with this”, said Ryan, stressing the importance of conducting research on terpenoids for the medical market. Edible cannabis is a relatively new industry and is just beginning to mature. The community desperately needs to compile some reliable knowledge on the subject. Perhaps in the future, there will be a synergy between the edible cannabis market and the food industry.

We wish Ryan and everyone at Golden Green Bakeries the best of luck with their endeavour - perhaps soon we will see the law change, and their products starting to appear in Dutch coffee shops. Until then, we'll stick with space cakes, and pray for the day when edible THC and CBD can be consumed in high doses by the public in an enjoyable, varied and relatively healthy way.

Steven Voser

Steven Voser is an independent cannabis journalist with over 6 years of experience writing about all things weed; how to grow it, how best to enjoy it, and the booming industry and murky legal landscape surrounding it.

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