A curated guide to tourism that is creating a better more vibrant WORLD

A Delightful Discovery at the Tweed Visitors Center.

Cannabis, Weed, Marijuana - whatever name you call it by - is now legal for recreational use in Canada. Yeah!  Our Founder recently had a very interesting tour of Tweed's Visitor Center and operations in Smiths Falls, Ontario. High-quality cannabis products for medical use have been produced there since 2014, but now with the opening of the market for recreational use Tweed is growing like a weed and has exciting new plans...

What a dream trip - a Willy Wonka kind of travel adventure - I had while visiting family near Ottawa, Ontario earlier this year. A plan was launched to visit the old Hersey Chocolate Factory in the sleepy little town of Smiths Falls. We had heard that there was a new operation at the factory and that a specialty line of designer chocolate was part of the plan. What's better than a scenic road trip, a chocolate factory tour and some samples?  

Hi!  The sign greeted us at the entrance to the Tweed Visitors Center. Then a delightful discovery - seems that Canopy Growth Corp. (TSE: WEED), Tweed's parent, got the golden ticket to transform the once thriving Hersey factory into the flagship of their cannabis growing and processing operations as well as the site of a gourmet chocolate production line. 

Canopy Growth recently partnered with Hummingbird Chocolate, a small local gourmet chocolate producer and award winner for the best cacao bean-to-bar chocolate in the world. The long term plan for the partnership is to produce a premium cannabis-infused chocolate product. There is a catch, however. While cannabis consumption is legal in Canada, the sale of edible pot products is not legal, due to issues regarding regulation. So, for the next while the Tweed operation will be producing and visitors will be sampling buzz-free (sigh) but awesome anyway gourmet chocolate.

But back to the tour, which goes way beyond the chocolate, and which I highly recommend. It is a great education and dispelled many of the misconceptions we had about marijuana and its use.

The growing and harvesting are highly controlled, tracking plant and bud origin and everything and everyone that has been involved. These controls are in place as the company is a supplier of medical cannabis products under the Spectrum brand and wants to control the levels of THC and CBC inherent in each genetic strain.

What I found most interesting was the Sensory Experience - an aromatic exploration of the "flavour notes" of each of the different cannabis strains/products. Who knew you could select your product to fit your individual preferences, both in terms of THC/CBC ratio and aroma, so as to get the most pleasing personal experience. I felt like I was at a vineyard wine tasting - smelling the individual notes of the terpenes (molecules produced by just about every plant and responsible for their unique smell) prevalent in each different varietal. 

Tweed loves what they are doing and are excited to have visitors. I'm excited that they like to bring people together and open the world to new possibilities because that is what we strive to do at Re-CreationWORLD. Plan to visit them, online or in person. It'll be fun, even without the VERY SPECIAL CHOCOLATE. 

If you are interested in using cannabis recreationally, please do so responsibly.  While recreational use is now legal, cannabis is now a controlled substance with protective rules around growing, production, sale, possession and consumption. So if you are a visitor to Canada or even if you are travelling between provinces, it is important to be aware of the local laws regarding purchase and possession and how and where you can enjoy your stash. We recommend that if you do not have local connections that you consider staying at a Bud and Breakfast - a great way to make new friends and get the local lowdown on cannabis usage.  If you are travelling do not transport cannabis in any form across international borders (It's a crime to bring it into or take it out of Canada) or try to take it through airport security, even if you are travelling within Canada. 

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