A Review of Cannabis Regulation in Canada and t - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

A Review of Cannabis Regulation in Canada and the Report of the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation

For

Emerging Practices and Legal Context for Prescription Drugs and Marijuana in VAW Shelters

Susan Boyd, PhD, University of Victoria

Adapted from Government of Canada, December 2016 Slide2

Cannabis SativaPlant drug with over 100 cannabinoids (compounds), THC and CBDUsed for its psychoactive and therapeutic effects

Criminalized in Canada in 1923 without any discussion in Parliament.

Less social and health risks associated with cannabis than alcohol and tobacco

Demonstrated

therapeutic use

for pain management and other illnesses

Not one documented cannabis overdose deathSlide3

Drug Regulation NowControlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA)

prohibits possession, trafficking, production, and importing of cannabis in all its forms (Schedule II to the Act)

except:

Food and Drug Act/Regulations

CDSA s. 56

(research & medical, supervised injection sites)

Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR)

Narcotic Control Regulations

Industrial Hemp RegulationsSlide4

Food & Drug Act RegulationsConventional way drugs are approved for sale and marketing to the publicclinical trials

Schedule

II drugs currently

approved (cannabis and derivatives) Slide5

CDSA s. 56 Allows the Minister of Health to issue exemptions for medical or scientific purposesE.g. clinical trials and other research

Insite

– Supervised Injection Site

Special Access Programme (heroin assisted treatment)Slide6

Narcotic Control RegulationsAllows medical practitioners and others in the health care system to

administer

,

prescribe, or transfer cannabisSlide7

Industrial Hemp RegulationsAllows farmers to produce cannabis plants with less then 0.3% THC by weightThe stalks and non-viable seeds of the plant may then be used for any purposeSlide8

Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) 2016Courts have long recognized Canadian’s constitutional right to medical cannabis

F

ederal

regulatory system for medical

cannabis set up

in 2001, it has evolved since

then

Medical document from licensed health practitioner authorizing the use of cannabis for medical purposes

Today the ACMPR allows

patients to either

:

Purchase cannabis from a Licensed Producer (LP) online for delivery by mail or

courier, from

38 registered Licensed Producers in Canada, or

Grow their own or designate someone else to grow for themSlide9

Canadian Cannabis Commissions1969: Le Dain Commission: Royal Commission of Inquiry into Non-Medical Use of Drugs

Le Dain Final Report on Cannabis, 1972

Abolish simple possession of cannabis

2001, Special Committee of the Canadian Senate: Nolan Report: legalize and regulate cannabis

2001: Special House of Commons Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs, 2002 Report, decriminalize cannabisSlide10

Task Force MandateOn June 30, 2016, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and the Minister of Health announced the creation of a nine member Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation.

Mandate:

Their mandate was to consult and provide advice on the design of a new legislative and regulatory framework for legal access to cannabis, consistent with the Government’s commitment to “

legalize, regulate and restrict access

.”Slide11

Task Force MembershipCHAIR: The Honourable

A. Anne

McLellan

VICE

-

CHAIR: Dr

. Mark A.

Ware

MEMBERS

Dr. Susan Boyd

Mr. George Chow

Superintendent

Marlene

Jesso

Dr. Perry Kendall

Mr.

Raf

Souccar

Dr. Barbara von

Tigerstrom

Dr. Catherine ZahnSlide12

Engagement ProcessThe Task Force’s mandate was limited to 5 months (June 30 – November 30, 2016).

A Discussion Paper prepared by the Government, entitled “Toward the Legalization, Regulation and Restriction of Access to

Marijuana.”

The Discussion paper consisted of five major themes:

Minimizing harms of use

Establishing a safe and responsible production system

Designing and appropriate distribution system

Enforcing public safety and protection, and

Accessing cannabis for medical purposes.Slide13

EngagementRoundtable discussions and bilateral meetings:

With

with provincial, territorial and municipal governments, experts, youth, advocates, and Indigenous governments and representative

organizations, and patients.

Task Force members

travelled to most provincial capital cities and to the North and held discussions in communities across the country

.

Online

public consultation:

An online portal was open to the public for 60 days throughout July and August of 2016 and received nearly 30,000 submissions to the questions posed. Slide14

EngagementWritten submissions: Nearly 300 written submissions were submitted to the Task Force from various organizations.

Study tours:

Task

Force conducted site visits to Colorado and Washington states.

They

also received a detailed briefing from senior officials from the Government of Uruguay

.

Currently: Uruguay and eight US states have legalized recreational cannabis.

Medical cannabis programs: 28 US statesSlide15

Task Force ReportSlide16

ReportIntroduction: context

Minimizing harms of use

Establishing a safe and responsible supply chain

Enforcing public safety and protection

Medical access

ImplementationSlide17

Minimizing Harms of Use: A Public Health Approach

Recommendations:

Set a national minimum age of purchase to

18

Restrictions

to the advertising and promotion of cannabis and related

merchandise: including

sponsorship, endorsements and

branding( similar to tobacco product restrictions)

P

lain

packaging for cannabis

products, with only

that

company

name, strain name, price, amounts of

THC

and

cannabidiol

(CBD) and warnings and other labelling requirementsSlide18

Minimizing Harms…Prohibit any product deemed to be “appealing to children,” including products that resemble or mimic familiar food items, are packaged to look like candy, or packaged in bright colours or with cartoon characters or other pictures or images that would appeal to

children

Prohibit mixed products, for example cannabis-infused alcoholic beverages or cannabis products with tobacco, nicotine or caffeine

Design a tax scheme based on THC potency to discourage purchase of high-potency products

Implement as soon as possible an evidence-informed public education campaign, targeted at the general population but with an emphasis on youth, parents and vulnerable populationsSlide19

RecommendationsGovernments commit to using revenue from cannabis regulation as a source of funding for prevention, education and treatmentSlide20

Safe Supply Chain

Recommendations to the Federal Government:

Regulate the production of cannabis and its derivatives (e.g., edibles, concentrates) at the federal level,

Use

licensing and production controls to encourage a diverse, competitive market that also includes small producers

Implement a seed-to-sale tracking system to prevent diversion and enable product recallsSlide21

Provincial & Territorial Regulationwholesale distribution of cannabis be regulated by provinces and territories retail

sales be regulated by the provinces and territories in close collaboration with

municipalities

Retail environment:

No co-location of alcohol or tobacco and cannabis sales, wherever possible. When co-location cannot be avoided, appropriate safeguards must be put in place

Limits on the density and location of storefronts, including appropriate distance from schools, community centres, public parks, etc.

Dedicated storefronts with well-trained, knowledgeable staff

Access via a direct-to-consumer mail-order systemSlide22

Recommendations…The Task Force recommends allowing personal cultivation of cannabis for non-medical purposes with the following conditions:

A limit of four plants per residence

A maximum height limit of 100 cm on the plants

A prohibition on dangerous manufacturing processes

Reasonable security measures to prevent theft and youth access

Oversight and approval by local authoritiesSlide23

EnforcementRecommendations:

Implement

clear

, proportional and enforceable penalties

Criminal

offences should be maintained for:

Illicit production, trafficking, possession for the purposes of trafficking, possession for the purposes of export, and import/export

Trafficking to youth

Create exclusions for “social sharing”

Implement administrative penalties

for

contraventions of licensing rules on production, distribution, and sale

Consider creating distinct legislation – a “

Cannabis Control Act

” – to house all the provisions, regulations, sanctions and offences relating to cannabis

Implement a limit of 30 grams for the personal possession of non-medical dried cannabis in public with a corresponding sales limit for dried cannabis Slide24

Provincial/MunicipalExtend the current restrictions on public smoking of tobacco products to the smoking of cannabis products and to cannabis vaping products

Be able to permit dedicated places to consume cannabis such as cannabis lounges and tasting rooms, if they wish to do so, with no federal prohibition.

Safeguards

to prevent the co-consumption with alcohol, prevent underage use, and protect health and safety should be implementedSlide25

Impaired Driving & Workplace Safety: Recommendations to Federal GovernmentInvest immediately and work with the provinces and territories to develop a national, comprehensive public education strategy to send a clear message to Canadians that cannabis causes impairment and that the best way to avoid driving impaired is to not consume.

Invest

in research to better link THC levels with impairment and crash risk to support the development of a

per se

limit

Majority of impaired driving cases (alcohol – 97 %)

THC can be detected (in blood testing) for up to 30 days, but detection does not equal impairmentSlide26

Workplace ImpairmentThe federal government and the provinces and territories each have their own occupational health and safety legislation and related regulations, which outline the general rights and responsibilities of employers and employees

At all levels of government, facilitate

and monitor ongoing research on cannabis and

impairment

Work

with provinces, territories, employers and labour

representatives to

facilitate the development of workplace impairment policies Slide27

Medical AccessRecommendations:

Maintain a separate medical access framework to support patients

(

Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR

)?)

Monitor and evaluate patients’ reasonable access to cannabis for medical purposes through the implementation of the new

system

Review

the role of designated persons under the ACMPR with the objective of eliminating this category of producer Slide28

Recommendations to Federal Government…Mandate a program evaluation every five years to determine whether the system is meeting its

objectives

These are recommendations to the federal government

No idea what type of law and policies will be enacted to legalize and regulate cannabis, or whether they will implement two separate streams of regulation: recreational and medical Slide29

Questions for Women’s Shelters and Transition HomesA lot of confusion because the new cannabis laws will not be enacted until late 2017 or 2018.

First:

Identify shelter and transition home concerns about the issues

Recreational use of cannabis, similar restrictions as recreational alcohol use at shelters and homesSlide30

Medical CannabisMedical Cannabis Use: store in secure locked area with other medication Smoking, only in designated area, dispensaries will provide pre-rolled cigarettesVaporizers, some hospitals and hospices allow this

Edibles, keep away from children

Work with local

dispensary or mail order Licensed Producer

to find an option that works for

shelter and homes.