A Framework for the Legalization and Regulation of Cannabis in Canada
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
A FRAMEWORK FOR THE LEGALIZATION AND REGULATION OF CANNABIS IN CANADA THE FINAL REPORT OF THE TASK FORCE ON CANNABIS LEGALIZATION AND REGULATION Health Canada is the federal department responsible for helping the people of Canada maintain and improve their health. We assess the safety of drugs and many consumer products, help improve the safety of food, and provide information to Canadians to help them make healthy decisions. We provide health services to First Nations people and to Inuit communities. We work with the provinces to ensure our health care system serves the needs of Canadians. Également disponible en français sous le titre : Un cadre pour la légalisation et la réglementation du cannabis au Canada To obtain additional information, please contact: Health Canada Address Locator 0900C2 Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9 Tel.: 613-957-2991 Toll free: 1-866-225-0709 Fax: 613-941-5366 TTY: 1-800-465-7735 E-mail: [email protected] This publication can be made available in alternative formats upon request. © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Health, 2016 Publication date: December 2016 This publication may be reproduced for personal or internal use only without permission provided the source is fully acknowledged. PRINT Cat.: H14-220/2016E PDF Cat.: H14-220/2016E-PDF Pub.: 160248 ISBN: 978-0-660-07006-3 ISBN: 978-0-660-07005-6 A Framework for the Legalization and Regulation of Cannabis in Canada The Final Report of the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation November 30, 2016 November 30, 2016 The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada The Honourable Jane Philpott Minister of Health The Honourable Ralph Goodale Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Dear Ministers, Please find attached the final report of the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation. This report is the product of our consultations with Canadians, provincial, territorial and municipal governments, Indigenous governments and representative organizations, youth, patients and experts in relevant fields. It has been a privilege to consult with so many people over the last five months, and we are deeply thankful to all those who provided their input, time and energy to us. We hope that this report will be useful to you and your Cabinet colleagues as you move forward with the legalization and regulation of cannabis. A. Anne McLellan (Chair) Mark. A. Ware (Vice Chair) Susan Boyd (Member) George Chow (Member) Marlene Jesso (Member) Perry Kendall (Member) Raf Souccar (Member) Barbara von Tigerstrom (Member) Catherine Zahn (Member) A FRAMEWORK FOR THE LEGALIZATION AND REGULATION OF CANNABIS IN CANADA I Table of Contents Foreword .............................................................. 1 Executive Summary ........................................................ 2 Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................... 8 Our mandate ............................................................. 8 The Canadian context ....................................................... 8 A global perspective ........................................................ 9 Setting the frame ......................................................... 10 Public policy objectives ..................................................... 10 Engagement process ....................................................... 13 Guiding principles ......................................................... 14 Chapter 2: Minimizing Harms of Use .............................................. 15 Introduction: a public health approach ............................................ 15 Minimum age ............................................................ 16 Promotion, advertising and marketing restrictions ..................................... 18 Cannabis-based edibles and other products ......................................... 20 THC potency ............................................................ 23 Tax and price ............................................................ 25 Public education .......................................................... 26 Prevention and treatment .................................................... 27 Workplace safety ......................................................... 28 Chapter 3: Establishing a Safe and Responsible Supply Chain ............................... 30 Introduction ............................................................ 30 Production ............................................................. 30 Distribution ............................................................. 33 Retail ................................................................ 33 Personal cultivation ........................................................ 35 Chapter 4: Enforcing Public Safety and Protection ..................................... 38 Introduction ............................................................ 38 Illegal activities .......................................................... 38 Personal possession ....................................................... 39 Place of use ............................................................. 40 Impaired driving .......................................................... 41 A FRAMEWORK FOR THE LEGALIZATION AND REGULATION OF CANNABIS IN CANADA III Chapter 5: Medical Access .................................................... 45 Introduction ............................................................ 45 One system or two? ........................................................ 45 Access ................................................................ 46 Affordability ............................................................ 46 Products ............................................................... 46 Public safety ............................................................ 47 Evidence and research ...................................................... 47 Chapter 6: Implementation ................................................... 51 Capacity ............................................................... 51 Oversight .............................................................. 53 Co-ordination ........................................................... 53 Communication .......................................................... 54 Annex 1: Biographies of Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation Members ............... 55 Annex 2: Terms of Reference .................................................. 58 Annex 3: Acknowledgements ..................................................60 Annex 4: Discussion Paper ‘Toward the Legalization, Regulation and Restriction of Access to Marijuana’ ..... 67 Annex 5: Executive Summary: Analysis of consultation input submitted to the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation .................................... 83 A FRAMEWORK FOR THE LEGALIZATION IV AND REGULATION OF CANNABIS IN CANADA Foreword When the Task Force first assembled in June 2016, While moving away from cannabis prohibition is we each brought a range of individual perspectives long overdue, we may not anticipate every nuance on cannabis. Over the months that followed, we came of future policy; after all, our society is still working to appreciate the collective importance of our varied out issues related to the regulation of alcohol and viewpoints and to recognize the potential impact of tobacco. We are aware of the shortcomings in our our work. This report is the result of a truly national current knowledge base around cannabis and the collaboration, and we are proud to have been effects of cannabis on human health and development. involved in it. As a result, the recommendations laid out in this report include appeals for ongoing research and surveillance, We have discovered that the regulation of cannabis and a flexibility to adapt to and respond to ongoing will touch every aspect of our society. One of the and emerging policy needs. predominant features of our deliberations has been the diversity of opinions, emotions and expertise This report is a synthesis of Canadian values, expressed by those who came forward. People and situated in the times in which we live, combined organizations gave generously of their time and with our shared experiences and concerns around reflections. We explored the issue in remote corners a plant and its products that have touched many of Canada as well as outside our borders. We heard lives in many ways. For millennia, people have found from parents, patients, practitioners, politicians, police ways to interact with cannabis for a range of medical, and the media. Our focus ranged from global treaty industrial, spiritual and social reasons, and modern obligations to the homes and municipalities in which science is only just beginning to unpack the intricacies we live. We heard anxiety about such things as driving, of cannabinoid pharmacology. We are now shaping a youth access and “sending the wrong message,” but new phase in this relationship and, as we do so, we we also heard a desire to move away from a culture recognize our stewardship not just of this unique of fear around cannabis and to acknowledge the plant but also of our fragile environment, our social existence of more positive medical and social and corporate responsibilities, and our health and attributes. Meanwhile, as we went about our mandate, humanity. This report is a beginning; we all have a dispensaries continued to challenge communities role to play in the implementation