This morning, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos (Minister of Health) and the Honourable Carolyn Bennett (Associate Minister of Health and Minister of Mental Health and Addictions) announced the long-awaited legislative review of the Cannabis Act. Alongside them were Morris Rosenberg (a Former Deputy Minister of Health) and Nate Erskine-Smith (Member of Parliament of Beaches-East York), who admitted that the government did not get the regulations quite right the first time around.
Although this legislative review comes 11 months after the review was expected to start in October of 2021 – 3 years after the Cannabis Act came into force, we welcome today’s announcement that allows us to address the challenges this industry is facing.
The press conference highlighted three objectives of the Parliamentary review:
1. Address the illicit market and empowering the legal industry to improve its standing by identifying and eliminating regulatory burdens and barriers.
2. Empower industry to deliver for patients, removing obstacles, and improve patient access.
3. Remove barriers related to past criminalization.
Diplomat is satisfied with the scope of the review, as it is wider than the original narrow intended focus. However, we note the following issues that we believe will continue to provide significant challenges:
Public safety
The Canadian food and health care industry have consistency standards regarding their product and accessories as it relates to the safety and health of consumers. Such standards have yet to be developed within the cannabis industry. For a sector that includes inhalable, ingestible, and dermal application products, such a market can be extremely confusing for the consumer. The large variety of product forms is exactly why implementation of standards from a public safety standpoint is so critically important. From laboratory standards on testing (microbial, cannabinoid potency, pesticide, toxicity, and more), to regulatory control over vape hardware, the lack of awareness and control over this adds to inconsistency in product, consumer wariness, and continued comparison to the illegal market.
There is also an awareness that in some instances retail stores have found it difficult to ensure safety for their staff and clients. As much as the cannabis retail industry is not directly regulated by the Cannabis Act, it is indirectly affected by the lack of interplay between the federal and provincial/territorial bodies to create safe environments.
As the provinces and territories interpret federal policy and convert it into standards for municipal retail stores, the inability to obtain clarity from a federal perspective on how to maintain promotional compliance in a retail environment has left retailers with a difficult burden that has resulted in robberies and violence. From individuals inside the store (employees, shoppers, other visitors), to citizens in the immediate surrounding area, everyone is affected by these activities. For a legal federal framework to focus so heavily on public safety, it is perplexing that the federal government, in conjunction with their provincial counterparts, has not offered solutions on how to address these challenges.
Public education
There is a continued lack of knowledge and understanding of legal vs. illegal cannabis product forms, and with that, a continued source of misinformation in reporting (see CBC report). Without public health education on how to accurately determine a legal product from one that is not, there cannot be an expectation that the general public will have any further understanding of the products they are purchasing. By Health Canada’s own admission, the percent of individuals who did not notice educational messaging increased 15% from 2019 to 2021. If $108.5 million has been invested into a cannabis education and awareness campaigns, how has this messaging been effective?
Lack of comprehensive plan against prohibition
We believe the fastest way to bring the illicit industry into the legal market is through sound policy development. The 3rd parliamentary goal of the review is focused on past injustices, yet there is no information on how the government intends to use this review to promote this transition.
This will ultimately lead to a failure on the social equity front. Especially since we know that the level of incarceration for non-violent cannabis related crimes, and crime in general, is significantly biased toward those in BIPOC communities.
Conclusion
We are hopeful that the review, in its current scope, will address a significant portion of the issues we have identified above. Diplomat continues to advocate for change and we encourage those interested to continue to advocate for your needs. Canada’s cannabis framework should be inclusive of all groups, that is not prohibitive to participation.
