Non-medical cannabis legalization was initially passed with the intention of public safety, reducing youth access, and reducing crime. Five years after the passing of legislation, studies show mixed results with an increase in health issues, but positive increases in social benefits. Five years is not enough time to make definitive conclusions. There is currently a legislative review of the Cannabis Act that is led by an expert panel.
Five years ago in October 2018, Canada implemented the legalization of non-medical cannabis use and supply for adults. Medical cannabis use has been legal since 2001. Cannabis legalization in Canada had the primary goals of improving cannabis-related public health and safety, reducing youth access to cannabis, and reducing cannabis-related crime and illegal markets.
Five years after policy implementation, a report by the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggests that outcomes related to health — such as the prevalence of cannabis use, cannabis-related emergency department visits and admissions to hospital and cannabis-impaired driving have mostly increased or remained steady compared to pre-legalization. The report looked at national data surveys that monitored cannabis usage before and after the nonmedical cannabis legalization.
Substantial reductions in criminal arrests and charges related to cannabis use, and related stigma and other personal burdens, among both adults and youth, are noted as related to positive social justice. This is positive due to the substantive prevention of criminal penalties and records that affect social and professional opportunities.
Another study in JAMA Network Open suggests that the increased availability of cannabis led to health concerns and hospitalizations.
The JAMA study examined hospitalizations linked to cannabis use in four Canadian provinces, both before and after legalization. The study looked at hospitalization data on nearly seven million people, ages 15 and older in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. There were 105,000 hospitalizations for cannabis from January 2015 through March 2021, the report says. One-third were among people ages 15 to 24, while 66% were males.
The prevalence of cannabis use among youths (30%–50%) and perceived access to cannabis by minors have remained mostly stable at the high levels observed before legalization.
Co-authors of the Canadian Medical Association Journal report, Dr. Benedikt Fischer and Simon Fraser, of the University in Vancouver, said “At this stage, cannabis legalization in Canada appears not to have been the public health disaster anticipated by some of its opponents, but it cannot be described as a comprehensive or unequivocal success for public health either.”
“It is too early to draw conclusions on the impact of cannabis legalization in Canada that can robustly inform policy reform. Assessments of cannabis legalization in the United States also concluded that five years is early to evaluate the full effects of such a fundamental policy change,” the report adds.
Last year, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions announced that an independent expert panel would lead the legislative review of the Cannabis Act that was passed in 2018.
As five years is not a substantial amount of and results are not definitive, the legislative review panel will provide advice on how to progress towards achieving the Act’s objectives and will help identify areas for improving the functioning of the legislation.
Issues of focus include: The economic, social, and economic impacts of the Cannabis Act; impacts on Indigenous peoples, racialized communities, and women; regulation of cannabis for medical purposes; and stricter regulation for lower-risk cannabis products.
