Restaurant testing 'pot burger' in Denver

A Carl's Jr. restaurant in Denver, the capital of the first US state to create a legal marijuana market, will offer a one-day special on Saturday: a hamburger with cannabis-laced sauce.

The national fast-food chain says the burger — officially called the Rocky Mountain High: CheeseBurger Delight — is a test to help it decide whether to put the burger on its permanent menu. The one-day sale to customers over the age of 18 will make Carl's Jr. the first national fast food chain in the US to add CBD to its food.

The test day itself — April 20, often just called 4/20 — is the unofficial holiday for cannabis enthusiasts to celebrate the smoking of marijuana, and cities in the US, including the nation's capital, and abroad will hold 4/20 celebrations.

In recognition of the day, the Carl's Jr. burger will sell for $4.20. The company says it has enough ingredients to sell at least 1,000 of the specialty burgers.

The burger features two beef patties, pickled jalapenos, pepper jack cheese, waffle fries and about 5 milligrams of hemp-derived CBD extract in the burger chain's Santa Fe Sauce. CBD, or cannabidiol, is a non-psychoactive hemp derivative. The 5 milligrams of CBD is way below the 500 milligrams some experts say is required for it to be effective.

"We are a West Coast brand," Patty Trevino, senior vice-president of Carl's Jr. marketing told Bloomberg. "The states out in the West Coast have been the ones to really adopt and appreciate and be open to cannabis."

Carl's Jr. has built a reputation as a premier burger chain, and there are more than 1,100 of them worldwide. It is owned by Franklin, Tennessee-based CKE Restaurant Holdings Inc, with franchisees in and outside the US.

Trevino said keeping the CBD burger as a one-day promotion or rolling it out more widely will depend on feedback. But she said a lot of franchisees have already contacted corporate headquarters saying they want to test the burger.

CBD was decriminalized by the Farm Bill that was passed late last year and signed by President Donald Trump, but CBD has not been approved for use in food and drinks by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The regulator has set its first public hearing on legalizing CBD in food and drinks for May 31.

Many restaurants, bars and bakeries in the US are experimenting with adding the cannabis compound to menu items, fearing little risk of enforcement of the FDA ban.

CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) come from the cannabis plant. Unlike THC, CBD doesn't give the user a high. Proponents say it's a natural way to mitigate anxiety, insomnia, inflammation and other ailments, although little scientific research has been done to back up those assertions.

Colorado was the first US state to legalize recreational marijuana and cannabis has become one of the state's fastest growing industries. Last year, medical and retail dispensaries in the state sold $1.55 billion worth of marijuana, according to Colorado's marijuana sales report.

In addition to Colorado, marijuana and CBD are legal for both medicinal and recreational purposes in Alaska, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Washington DC. In 23 states, it's legal in some form, such as for medicinal purposes.

On Saturday, a number of US cities and some outside of the US will be the scene for 4/20 celebrations, including Chicago, San Francisco and Sacramento, California, Seattle, London, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen. Denver's previous Mile High 4/20 Festival has drawn more than 50,000 to celebrate all things marijuana, making it the largest 4/20 event in the world.

The National Restaurant Association and the American Culinary Federation in a survey found that 3 in 4 chefs said CBD and cannabis-infused food would be a hot trend this year.

A report by the Brightfield Group found that the hemp-derived CBD market will reach $22 billion in sales by 2022, outpacing cannabis sales.