You don't need a wood-fired oven to bake these pizzas.
At Mega Ill, Vancouver's first cannabis-friendly restaurant, pot smoking accoutrements such as vapourizers and grinders mingle with the table settings, and customers with medical marijuana cards can order their pizzas with an "extra special" ingredient.
In addition to being a licensed and permitted vapour lounge where you can bring your own cannabis, card-carrying customers over the age of 18 can have oil extracted from pot drizzled onto their pizzas.
There are currently nine pizzas on the menu, with crusts comprised of whole wheat, hemp hearts, and oatmeal flour, going for $16 each. The oil, the effects of which take about half an hour to kick in, is added before the pizza goes into the oven for an additional $10.
Inspired by Cambodia's Happy Pizza practices, Mega Ill is likely the only pizzeria in Canada offering THC-infused pie.
The name Mega Ill does double duty as a reference to the space's previous tenant, Mega Grill, and to the myriad illnesses that medical marijuana users, including Mega Ill co-owner Mark Klokeid, battle.
Diagnosed 10 years ago with Stage IV lymphoblastic lymphoma — a rare, aggressive form of cancer — Klokeid says he dealt with the side effects of treatment with the help of cannabis.
The restaurant, which opened in December at 646 Kingsway, might not be able to infuse for much longer, however.
Recent changes to Health Canada rules on medicinal marijuana came into effect April 1, and, while a last-minute federal court injunction has blocked some of the changes until the constitutional rights case goes to trial (likely within the next nine to 12 months), the final outcome of the case could take the add-on off the menu.