Organization: Health Canada

Date published: March 2024
Cat.: H134-37/2024E-PDF
ISBN: 978-0-660-70615-3
Pub.: 230837

Prepared by:

Morris Rosenberg (Chair)
Dr. Oyedeji Ayonrinde
Dr. Patricia J. Conrod
Lynda L. Levesque
Dr. Peter Selby

Table of contents

• Chapter 1: Executive summary
• Chapter 2: Recommendations and observations
• Chapter 3: Introduction
• Chapter 4: Summary of engagement
• Chapter 5: Overview of the cannabis framework
• Chapter 6: Public health
• Chapter 7: First Nations, Inuit and Métis
• Chapter 8: Economic, social and environmental impacts
• Chapter 9: Adult access
• Chapter 10: Criminal activity and displacement of the illicit market
• Chapter 11: Medical access
• Chapter 12: Research and surveillance
• Appendix A: Glossary
• Appendix B: Stakeholder list
• Appendix C: Panel member biographies

Chapter 1: Executive summary

Context

After almost a century of prohibition, Canada became the first major developed country to legalize and regulate cannabis when the Cannabis Act (the Act) came into force in 2018. Canada’s approach to cannabis shifted from prohibiting and criminalizing activities with cannabis to one grounded in regulated and controlled access to minimize the risks and harms for individuals and communities.

In view of the wide-ranging impacts of the change from prohibition to legal, regulated access, Parliament established a requirement for the Act to be reviewed 3 years after its coming into force.

In September 2022, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health appointed us as an independent Expert Panel to conduct a review. The mandate for the review, set out in section 151.1 of the Act, was to assess the administration and operation of the legislation, particularly:

• impact of the Act on public health and, in particular, on the health and consumption habits of young persons with respect to cannabis use
• impact of cannabis on Indigenous persons and communities
• impact of the cultivation of cannabis plants in a dwelling-house

The Ministers also asked us to consider the following:

• economic, social and environmental impacts of the Act
• progress towards providing adults with access to strictly regulated, lower-risk, legal cannabis products
• progress made in deterring criminal activity and displacing the illicit cannabis market
• impact of legalization and regulation on access to cannabis for medical purposes
• impacts on Indigenous Peoples, racialized communities and women, who might be at greater risk of harm or face greater barriers to participation in the legal industry based on identity or socio-economic factors

We were supported by the Legislative Review Secretariat, housed in Health Canada, whose role was to provide administrative and research support. We would like to thank the team for their invaluable assistance through this process.

Read more: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/drugs-medication/legislative-review-cannabis-act-final-report-expert-panel.html