Canadian first: Clearview company bottling edible medical cannabis oil extract

Edible medical cannabis oil extract has been bottled for the first time at the Peace Natural Project in Clearview Township, Ont. on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015. (Roger Klein/ CTV Barrie)

A company in Clearview Township is celebrating a first for medical marijuana in Canada.

The first bottle of cannabis oil extract prepared by workers at the Peace Naturals Project has rolled off the line. The company is the first in Canada to get the green light to sell marijuana in this form.

"We were given the opportunity to make an application to do R and D, then following the proper process could be licenced,” says Mark Gobuty, CEO and founder of The Peace Natural Project. “So start to finish, we were four months."

Marijuana extract was illegal until a Supreme Court decision cleared the way for it earlier this year.

Now for the first time in Canada, patients have a legitimate way to use medical marijuana without having to smoke it.

That's welcome news to people who have advocated for a different form of the drug. Some expect the impact of the product that's now being produced to be significant.

The oils come in two different concentrations of the active component THC. They are shipped by courier to patients, who have a prescription from their doctor.

“It's an edible product, so patients can choose to ingest it directly,” says Jennifer Caldwell, VP of client experience and regulatory affairs. “It doesn't taste the greatest so some people put in some jelly or on a salad, you could add it to baking.”

Depending on the concentration, the new oils cost up to $240 for a 30 millilitre bottle, but there are discounts for patients, who offer feedback for research.