Navigating the regulatory framework to bring this poppy project to fruition in Canada and around the world is a complex process. In Canada, the regulatory framework for research and commercialization is governed by the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and a number of related regulations, administered by Health Canada. API Labs is working with policymakers and regulators with a view of ensuring a science-based regulatory framework that rewards innovation.
Since API Labs intends to establish a commercial industry around the cultivation of poppies (a controlled substance) specific regulatory changes are required. There are two separate actions that would support this establishment of this industry. The first is an exemption to the existing regulation that according to Section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, may be granted by the Health Minister. The second, would be an actual change or amendment to the existing Canadian regulation that considers the poppy as a narcotic controlled substance which is illegal to produce or possess. This regulation change would put our laws in line with other producing nations that do not consider the poppy a controlled substance until the straw is processed (i.e. the alkaloids are extracted from the biomass).