Medical marijuana gets kosher okay in Canada

In first, Ottawa Vaad Hakashrut group grants kosher license to Hydropothecary Corp. on eve of Jewish New Year

MONTREAL — Canadian Jews were able to get halachically high for the High Holidays after a company became the first in Canada to obtain kosher certification for its medical marijuana.

The certification was granted by the Vaad Hakashrut, a kosher certifier in Ottawa, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah.

“According to the Torah, according to the Talmud, this is something that if we are able to help [sick people], that is my obligation,” the Vaad’s Rabbi Levy Teitlebaum told The National Post.

The Canadian company involved is Hydropothecary Corp., a medical marijuana producer based in Gatineau, Quebec, near Ottawa.

“As the only medical marijuana company in Canada with kosher-certified processed products, we take great pride in having the support of the kashrut council,” company CEO Sebastien St-Louis said in a statement.

In 2016, Montreal kosher certifiers said medicinal pot needed kosher certification because it is ingested, while certifiers in Toronto said it didn’t because it is being used as medicine.