Key recommendations from the government’s review of the Cannabis Act

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OTTAWA — Greater than 5 years after hashish was legalized in Canada, the federal government has launched its closing report of the legislative overview of the Hashish Act.

The report is the results of 18 months of labor by a panel of trade specialists to evaluate the progress of hashish legalization and make suggestions to enhance upon hashish laws.

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Listed here are among the key suggestions made by the report.

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Public well being

The report makes various public well being suggestions regarding points together with product promotion, packaging and labelling, youngsters and youth, and efficiency.

It calls on Well being Canada to set and monitor targets for lowering youth and younger grownup hashish use, to assist implement college prevention applications, and to redouble efforts to tell Canadians concerning the dangers of by accident exposing youngsters to hashish.

It additionally expresses concern concerning the development towards greater potencies of THC in hashish merchandise, recommending that the restrict stay at 10 milligrams per package deal and that Well being Canada set up a definition of higher-potency merchandise and apply extra warnings to such merchandise. THC is the psychoactive part of hashish.

“If the present development in direction of consuming higher-potency hashish can’t be halted or reversed, then Well being Canada must be able to implement extra product rules,” the report says.

The report additionally recommends the event of a “commonplace dose” to be used on labelling, and makes a number of suggestions to enhance and simplify the labelling on packaging.

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First Nations, Inuit and Metis

The report has a number of suggestions relating to First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities, together with that Well being Canada ought to co-develop culturally acceptable supplies and applications containing well being details about hashish.

It additionally calls on Well being Canada to co-develop amendments to the Hashish Act to raised defend well being and security in Indigenous communities, authorizing nation-to-nation agreements to regulate industrial hashish actions.

Trade suggestions

The report recommends amending rules to permit hashish cultivators to promote merchandise on to distributors, and likewise recommends consideration of a overview of the excise tax mannequin, because it was based mostly on a a lot greater common value than right this moment’s costs.

Reforms to the excise tax regime may embody greater duties on hashish merchandise with greater concentrations of THC with a purpose to discourage consumption of higher-risk merchandise.

The report additionally makes a number of suggestions focused at bettering variety within the hashish trade, together with accumulating demographic information.

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Medical entry

The report recommends permitting pharmacies to distribute hashish merchandise to individuals with medical authorization.

It says Well being Canada ought to prioritize shifting previous the distinct medical entry program so hashish may be a part of standard medical care by being thought-about inside commonplace drug approval pathways. The report says this could begin with the fast development of a pathway for well being merchandise containing CBD, a non-psychoactive compound present in hashish.

It additionally encourages extra analysis on the therapeutic use of hashish in Canada, and recommends the institution of a information hub centered on the usage of hashish for medical functions.

The report additionally urges Well being Canada to help the event of medical steerage paperwork relating to medical use of hashish to assist improve the information of well being care professionals.

This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed March 21, 2024.

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