BCBusiness

tOp: aLBERt LaW mOnth YEaR BCBusiness 27 T H E m I x E R keith Dolo President and CeO, sproutly Cannabis When keith dolo saw a chance to join the cannabis industry, he jumped at it. Before being tapped to head sproutly in 2017, the saskatchewan native spent 14 years with staffing services firm Robert half, where he was a Vp. One of Vancouver-based sproutly's two subsidiaries is toronto herbal Remedies, a licensed producer of medical cannabis. having prepared to take the business public this July, dolo reckoned Canada would see an oversupply of pot in 2019 and 2020. "if we wanted to be differ- ent and access capital to grow the company, we'd have to be more than just a small-batch producer." so sproutly acquired fusion Biosciences, buying its global rights. florida-based fusion has developed a method for extract- ing water-soluble cannabinoids from the marijuana plant. traditional extraction uses, say, butane or carbon dioxide to produce cannabis oil, which needs another step to blend it into a drink or an edible, dolo explains. fusion's technology yields infuz2O, a solution that mixes with water. as a result, the body processes it quickly: its effects take hold in less than five minutes and fade within 90, according to fusion, versus 30 to 60 minutes and three to six hours, respec- tively, for cannabis oil. sproutly plans to turn the marijuana at its toronto facility into solution and what it calls bio-natural oils. infuz2O's fast onset and offset make it an alcohol replacement, but it could also work in a range of consumer packaged goods, says dolo, who has a team of 20. "putting out our own beverages is going to be a piece of it, but also partnering with some existing companies that have shelf space." –N.R. tastE tEst keith Dolo is taking cannabis producer sproutly into the beverage business Deepak Anand wants the cannabis industry to look beyond its own hype. "A lot of people have this misconception about legaliza- tion being this Wild West," says the City of Langley resident, whose Mississauga-based 'rm helps cannabis companies in Canada and abroad with everything from licensing and facility design to training and recruitment. Hav- ing worked in the pharmaceuticals business, he notes that Ottawa is tak- ing a similar regulatory approach, focused on public health and safety. "We are legalizing this product, but we are strictly regulating it. I think those people choose to conveniently forget the second half." Anand points to booze giants like Constel- lation Brands and Diageo striking or exploring deals with pot players. "I don't think we'll see alcohol-infused [cannabis] beverages any time soon," he says. Then there's cannabidiol ( CBD), a non-impairing cannabis constituent with thera- peutic bene'ts. Although companies in U.S. states where marijuana is legal market them- selves as CBD purveyors, Anand explains, the Canadian regulatory structure is very di¡erent. "A year from now, we will be going down the path of consultation, and we will be allow- ing for di¡erent forms of products to launch, but we're not there yet," says the board member of Cana- dians for Fair Access to Medical Marijuana. "People seem to be jumping ahead." As for the provincial govern- ment, in early September, Anand credits it with doing "a decent job" on recreational legalization, but he wants to see more action on the policy side. With just one legal non-medical cannabis store open on October 17, what will happen else- where? he asks. "We've seen cities like Vancou- ver and Victoria get ahead of this legislation, but other cities are still waiting," Anand says. "B.C. is at the centre of the cannabis industry. So the fact that we may not have a solid, robust program in B.C. is a little bit concerning." —N.R. T H E C O N s u L T A N T DeePAk AnAnD Vice-president of business development and government relations, Cannabis Compliance

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