ANALYSIS: The Flaws Flagged by Canada’s Cannabis Legalization Review

Products for sale at a Montreal cannabis store owned by the SQDC, on Oct. 16, 2018. (Martin Ouellet-Diotte/AFP via Getty Images)

In October 2018, Canada became the first G7 nation to legalize recreational cannabis, and a federal review of how it’s gone so far shows what other countries may encounter if they do the same.

The push for legalization of other substances, such as psychedelics, has also begun in Canada—the pros and cons of which are likely to be viewed in light of our experience with cannabis, says addictions expert Michael DeVillaer.

“We failed to heed the lessons from alcohol [and] tobacco. ... There is a very real danger that we will also fail to learn the lessons from cannabis,” Mr. DeVillaer, a health sciences professor at McMaster University, told The Epoch Times.

A panel of experts tasked with reviewing cannabis legalization flagged concerns about dangers to youth, high-potency products, doctors accepting money from cannabis companies, a lack of enforcement, and more.

The panel made 54 recommendations in March, and the government announced on June 8 that it’s working on several of them. Some of the recommendations relate to safety and others to industry. The ones Ottawa is working on look to ease industry regulations.

One of the proposed amendments to the Cannabis Act would remove the requirement that companies report annually to the government on their promotional activities. Another would allow for some markings on packaging, such as QR codes, leading to information that complies with Health Canada regulations.

The panel said these and other amendments could be made without sacrificing health and safety. The panel noted that boosting licensed cannabis companies, many of which are struggling, would help push out the black market. 

Industry advocates have said their products are safe compared to those on the black market, so benefiting the industry ultimately benefits safety. Industry leaders were happy about some of the panel’s recommendations, but not others.

“We are ceding ground to the unregulated and unsafe illicit market, putting public health and safety at risk,” said Beena Goldenberg, CEO of New Brunswick-based Organigram Inc., in a statement released after the panel’s report was published.

She criticized, for example, the panel’s recommendation to maintain a limit on the potency of cannabis products. She argued that customers go to the black market for higher potency. The panel maintained, however, that potency should not be increased due to safety concerns.

“Use of high-potency products are associated with the development of schizophrenia or psychosis,” it said, while they increase the likelihood of addiction.

Mr. DeVillaer said having licensed, legal producers shouldn’t be a presumed solution to public safety issues. He said licensed companies have often been found in violation of regulations, posing safety concerns as well. He looked at such concerns in his book “Buzz Kill: The Corporatization of Cannabis.”

A study published by the American Medical Association in 2021 found more than 80 percent of the 261 Canadian cannabis companies examined had at least one violation. About half of Health Canada’s 89 inspections from April 2021 to March 2022 found infractions.

He said the panel should have considered the possibility that reversing legalization is best for public safety, but that it started instead from the standpoint of only improving legalization.

The legalization of recreational cannabis is still relatively rare in the world.

Several U.S. states have made this move, starting with Colorado and Washington state in 2012. Germany became the first European country to decriminalize recreational cannabis in April. Other places have only decriminalized (legalizing takes things a step further). Some places have also legalized medical cannabis, but not recreational.

Even places that have legalized recreational cannabis have varying limitations on retail sales. Some cities in Washington, for example, have prohibited retail sales of recreational marijuana. In many Canadian cities, retail cannabis stores are a common sight. Normalization and access to products were among the factors considered by the panel.

What the Panel Said

The expert panel was appointed by the federal health minister. It was led by Morris Rosenberg, a former deputy minister of justice and deputy attorney general of Canada. 

Its report starts by noting that “there has been significant progress made on several of the key objectives of the legislation.” That includes establishing a licensing framework for a quality-controlled supply of cannabis, progress in shifting consumers away from the black market, and a 95 percent reduction in the number of cannabis-related charges.

It said most companies have adhered to limits on promotion, packaging, and claims about health and other benefits. It did note, however, that enforcement is limited, in part due to strained law enforcement resources. It recommended Health Canada and other government agencies step up enforcement.

A key objective of the legalization was to keep cannabis out of the hands of children and youth, it said, yet cannabis-use among youth remains high. It said that cultural and social normalization of substances can increase a youth’s curiosity about them and lessen the perceived risks. It noted cannabis’s negative impacts on the brain of youth under age 25, as suggested by scientific studies.

Alberta announced on May 27 it is funding further study on these impacts to the brain.

The panel’s first recommendation was for the government to allocate sufficient funding to “address emerging public health and public safety issues.” Its second one was to reduce youth and young-adult cannabis harms.

The Epoch Times asked Health Canada about plans to implement the panel’s recommendations. “Health Canada is carefully reviewing and analyzing the report and its recommendations,” the agency said in an emailed statement.

It cited the example of a school education campaign called Pursue Your Passion that Health Canada launched in 2018. The program has been updated to include information about cannabis and its effects on mental health; trained presenters appeared to 500 schools virtually between March 2023 and March 2024.

The panel suggested increased funding for such school education programs on cannabis harms, and recommended educating consumers on how to store cannabis out of the reach of children.

Mr. DeVillaer called these “demand-side interventions,” as they put the onus on consumers rather than on industry to maintain safety. Industry interventions would be “supply-side interventions.”

He was disappointed in the number of demand-side interventions. For example, he said, the panel should have recommended a ban on cannabis products in the form of candy to prevent child poisonings, rather than educating consumers on how to keep them away from children.

“As suggested by health authorities at the time of legalization, edibles in the form of confections should not be allowed,” he said.

In addition to child poisonings, senior visits to the ER due to cannabis have spiked after legalization, according to a report published in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine in May. The authors linked this to edibles, but could not say for certain what factors caused the poisonings—for example, whether it was due to accidental ingestion (mistaking the products for normal candy) or due to underestimating the potency of the products.

The panel review suggested higher excise taxes on higher-potency products as a deterrent. But it also recommended lower excise taxes overall, saying the current rate was set when cannabis prices were higher.

The government expected a gram of cannabis to sell for $10 in 2018, so taxed it at $1 per gram. Now, products are priced as low as $3.50 a gram, and producers are still paying $1 per gram.  

The lower retail price could lead to even more people using cannabis, the panel said.

“We worry that lower retail prices will likely contribute to increased consumption of cannabis and elevate the risk of cannabis-related harms (for example, addiction, psychosis, depression, anxiety),” it said.

Other issues it raised include problems in indigenous communities and financial incentives paid to doctors to prescribe cannabis products.

Some First Nations have raised concerns that their youth have more access to cannabis since legalization and that it’s impacting their mental health. The First Nations also want greater control over cannabis regulations and tax revenues in their communities, and the panel suggested coming to nation-to-nation agreements with them on this.

“We heard that some health care professionals authorizing cannabis for medical purposes accept financial incentives from industry, a practice that would be considered unacceptable in the context of prescription medications,” the board said. 

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.