The Devil Is in the Details! On Regulating Cannabis Use in Canada Based on Public Health Criteria; Comment on “Legalizing and Regulating Marijuana in Canada: Review of Potential Economic, Social, and Health Impacts”

Document Type : Commentary

Authors

1 Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, ON, Canada

2 Addiction Policy, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

3 Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, ON, Canada

4 Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

5 Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

6 Center of Clinical Epidemiology and Longitudinal Studies (CELOS), Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

7 Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, CAMH, Toronto, ON, Canada

8 Communications and Partnerships, CAMH, Toronto, ON, Canada

9 Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Abstract

This commentary to the editorial of Hajizadeh argues that the economic, social and health consequences of legalizing cannabis in Canada will depend in large part on the exact stipulations (mainly from the federal government) and on the implementation, regulation and practice of the legalization act (on provincial and municipal levels). A strict regulatory framework is necessary to minimize the health burden attributable to cannabis use. This includes prominently control of production and sale of the legal cannabis including control of price and content with ban of marketing and advertisement. Regulation of medical marijuana should be part of such a framework as well

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Main Subjects


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